From “Kentucky Jeans” to “Fruit of the Loom” to the world’s most popular soaps and cosmetics, the “lower mill” at Riverpoint has seen a lot of fame!
\nThe Greene Manufacturing Company built a small spinning mill here on the South Branch just above its junction with the North Branch in 1812, but by 1816 the company had failed.
\nIn 1834 the company constructed a dam and a stone mill on a newly acquired water “privilege” downstream from the original mill. A third mill was built in 1844 and enlarged in 1855 to become one of the seven largest cotton mills in the state. Before the Civil War the primary product of the mills was a cotton twill fabric known as “Kentucky Jeans.” Following the Civil War the market collapsed and the company suffered financial losses.
\nIn 1884-1885, the property was purchased by the Knight Company, one of the world’s leading cotton manufacturers of the famous \"Fruit of the Loom\" brand.
\nThe Knights owned the mill until 1931 when it was bought by its present owners, the Original Bradford Soap Works. This firm, founded in Providence in 1876 by English immigrants James Rodgers and William Murgatroyd, produced soaps for the textile industry. With the collapse of the Rhode Island textile industry in the mid-2Oth century, Original Bradford diversified by producing chemical and cosmetic soaps. Today they produce products for such global brands as Dove, Paul Mitchell, Clinique, Johnsons Baby, Olay, Palmers, Neutrogena, Cetaphil and others.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Gary Kulik and Julia C. Bonham, Rhode Island: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, (U. S. Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Historic American Engineering Record, 1978).
","The Villages of the Town of West Warwick A Self-Guided Tour, (Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society, 2008)
","West Warwick, Rhode Island Statewide Historical Preservation Report, (Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, 1987)
","Coleman, J. Peter, The Transformation of Rhode Island 1790-1860 (Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1969)
"],"factoids":["Have money? Help build a mill!--When the [British] embargo and the War of 1812 halted British imports the Rhode Islanders had the manufacturing facilities, technical experience, financial resources, and market connections to capitalize on the sudden shortage of foreign goods.
\nStimulated by high profits as well as by the transfer of capital from the depressed maritime industry, cotton manufacturing expanded rapidly during the war. The number of mills almost trebled and spinning capacity more than doubled. By 1815 nearly three-fifths of southern New England's cotton factories were in Rhode Island. Many mills expanded their capacity. In 1810, only seven factories operated 1,000 or more spindles, but by 1815 this number had trebled and those utilizing 2,000 or more spindles had increased ninefold. The largest single mill—5,170 spindles, was that of Almy, Brown, and Slater located on the Branch River in Smithfield. The center of production, however, was on the Pawtuxet River, where a third of the state's mills, almost half the spindles, and over three-fifths of the largest mills were located.
"],"files":{"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/f575881ad98bd07f4c74f02c6ae4921e.jpg":{"id":1661,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Valley Queen Mill (Bradford Soap Works)","description":"Valley Queen Mill (Bradford Soap Works) | Google | 2020","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/f575881ad98bd07f4c74f02c6ae4921e.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/e092f2c252e328fafc1b609a36baa1b9.jpg":{"id":1662,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Best View of Valley Queen/Bradford Soap Works","description":"To get a great view of the Valley Queen Mill park in the lot shown on the map and walk down the Washington Secondary Trail (old railroad bed) about 1,300 feet. | Google Maps annotated by Larry Manire | 2020","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/e092f2c252e328fafc1b609a36baa1b9.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/2f417de5101e397958a7b54d9cc84219.jpg":{"id":1663,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Lower Mill (later Valley Queen Mill), Greene Mfg. Co., River Point, R.I.","description":"The Lower Mill is three and a half stories high, made out of granite. Albumen print. On the left side note the New York and New England Railroad (now the Washington Secondary Trail). |American Textile History Museum, Lowell, MA on here.
| Ca. 1860","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/2f417de5101e397958a7b54d9cc84219.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/91a2443c0c122f1ae38ef539c22ee90c.jpg":{"id":1664,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"River Point No.1 Mill (Later Valley Queen Mill)","description":"Portion of Clyde, River Point and Artic lithograph, 1889 |O.H. Bailey & Company Lithographers, online here.
| 1889","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/91a2443c0c122f1ae38ef539c22ee90c.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/original/9b601c7e0bb4834099a8be79cd8771d9.m4v":{"id":1665,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"How a Loom Works","description":"Machines, especially the power loom, revolutionized textile production. Here’s how a loom works. | Video on Youtube | Dawna Baugh"}}}