The Old Schwamb Mill is the oldest continuously operating mill site in the United States. There has been a mill operating at this site since c.1650. The current mill is a well-preserved 19th-century woodworking factory. It is located at 17 Mill Lane, Arlington, Massachusetts.
The mill was built in 1861, and purchased by brothers Charles and Frederick Schwamb in 1864 for the manufacture of circular and elliptical picture frames. It remained within the family's ownership and continued to operate, more or less unchanged in both equipment and processes, until 1969. Two wings were added during this time, however: one by 1881, and the other between that date and 1898.
The mill still contains operational equipment and four preserved power systems.
Famous quotes containing the word mill:
“Mathematics may be compared to a mill of exquisite workmanship, which grinds your stuff of any degree of fineness; but nevertheless, what you get out depends upon what you put in; and as the grandest mill in the world will not extract wheat- flour from peascods, so pages of formulae will not get a definite result out of loose data.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)