Moses Taft - Citations From The Blackstone Daily

Citations From The Blackstone Daily

Uxbridge Walking Tour 146 Mendon is the site of the Stanley Woolen Mill, originally known as the Central Woolen Mill in Calumet Village. It is mostly vacant, yet a portion of the huge wooden buildings house a spacious antique store and is the subject of future visioning sessions by State, federal and local partnerships. In 1852, Moses Taft built the mill and leased it to Israel Southwick and Richard Sayles. During the Civil Way, 24 hour production of indigo blue uniform cloth was ongoing before the mill was sold to Robert and Jacob Taft in 1865. Soon after, they built a dam at Rice City Pond which considerably increased the water power. In 1866, an 80 horsepower (60 kW) steam engine was installed and production continued to rise dramatically as the mill started producing fancy cassimeres as the name changed to the Calumet Woolen Company. Arthur and Stanley Wheelock bought the mill after 1905 and during WWI, a half million yards of khaki for the US government was produced as well as cloth for the French and Italian governments. This was the longest running family-owned woolen mill in the US until it closed in 1988. See also the link for Wheelocksville.