Mill town

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Not to be confused with Milltown a place name..

"Mill village" redirects here. For other uses, see Mill Village.

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories (usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles).

[edit] United Kingdom

Oldham in Greater Manchester, England is an archetypal British "mill town". Although its textile producing days are over, it is still home to many historic cotton mills.

In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" often refers to the 19th century textile-manufacturing towns of northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in Lancashire (cotton) and Yorkshire (wool). Manchester was bestowed with the name Cottonopolis as its immediate region was considered a metropolis of cotton processing mills. One of the most famous references to the early mills was in the poem/hymn "Jerusalem" by William Blake, in which "those dark satanic mills" were used to symbolise the injustice that a new Jerusalem ought to replace.

The British textile industry never fully recovered after the Great Depression, and its decline continued after the Second World War when it was unable to compete with the growing Indian textile industry. It is said that Gandhi was jeered when he visited mill towns on his 1931 tour of Britain, as many locals blamed his policies for causing unemployment.^[1] There are still a minority of mills left in operation today however. In addition, many mill buildings have conservation orders on them, and some have been converted into blocks of flats.

The term mill town has seen something of a revival in the British media since the debate over relations between whites and Asians began in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines that suffer from racial segregation and sometimes significant racial tension. Many mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns" because of their large Muslim populations.

Bradford has seen several riots in recent years whilst Burnley, Dewsbury and Oldham have all had suffered one riot each (see Oldham Riots and Bradford Riot). After the Second World War, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they often moved to the traditional working-class areas whilst the White working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war.^[6]

Many mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may also have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne[1]) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).

The list below includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was also a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Lancashire, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.

[edit] Cheshire mill towns

† - Hyde and Stalybridge used to be in Cheshire, but are now part of Greater Manchester.

[edit] Lancashire mill towns

Duke Street Mill, Blackburn, Lancashire, England

† - denotes as a town from the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, but now in Greater Manchester.

[edit] Yorkshire mill towns

† - Barnoldswick used to be in Yorkshire, but is now part of Lancashire.

On his tour of northern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:

In general, these towns wear a monotonous sameness of aspect, physical and moral... In fact, the social condition of the different town populations is almost as much alike as the material appearance of the tall chimneys under which they live. Here and there the height of the latter may differ by a few rounds of brick, but in all essential respects, a description of one is a description of all.^[7]

—Angus Reach, Morning Chronicle, 1849

[edit] United States

[edit] New England

Amoskeag Canal, 1948, by Charles Sheeler

Beginning with technological information smuggled out of England by Francis Cabot Lowell, large mills were established in New England in the early to mid 19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as a company town, grew in the shadow of the industries. The region became a manufacturing powerhouse along rivers like the Housatonic River, Shetucket River, Blackstone River, Merrimack River, Nashua River, Cochecho River, Saco River, Androscoggin River, Kennebec River or Winooski River.

"In the nineteenth century, saws and axes made in New England cleared the forests of Ohio; New England ploughs broke the prairie sod, New England scales weighed wheat and meat in Texas; New England serge clothed businessmen in San Francisco; New England cutlery skinned hides to be tanned in Milwaukee and sliced apples to be dried in Missouri; New England whale oil lit lamps across the continent; New England blankets warmed children by night and New England textbooks preached at them by day; New England guns armed the troops; and New England dies, lathes, looms, forges, presses and screwdrivers outfitted factories far and wide." - Jane Jacobs, The Economy of Cities, 1969

In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.