Crompton Mill, home of the “Velvet Mills,” the first U.S. company to manufacture velveteens and corduroys, by 1888 employed 600 and operated 40,000 spindles and 1,000 looms in buildings on the west and east side of the river. Sadly the west building, built in 1882-85, burned in 1992 due to arson (see video). Production finally ended in bankruptcy in 1984. The current tenants include Mike’s Estate Services a high end estate liquidation and consignment shop which makes for an interesting visit, both for the beautiful goods and to see the inside of the mill. Also, for a nice break, go left/south on Manchester St., to just beyond the end of the mill on the right to Crompton Village River Park’s boardwalk for a view of the mill pond and part of the complex (see the map image).
\nIn 1807, the Providence Manufacturing Company built a stone mill on the east side of the Pawtuxet River. The mill, called the \"Stone Jug\", was three stories, 117’ X 33’ with 2,190 spindles, and was very likely the sixth cotton mill and the first stone textile mill built in Rhode Island. It was named after English inventor Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning mule.
\nThe company failed in 1816, and the mill was apparently idle until 1823 when it was bought by the Crompton Company who began calico printing. More mills were added in 1828 and 1832. In 1866 a new owner produced print cloth, and later velveteens and corduroys in a new building west of the river (which burned in 1992).
\nThe Crompton Company expanded into several Southern states but couldn’t outlast foreign competition and filed for bankruptcy in October 1984. When it went out of business it was the oldest textile firm in the country, having been in continuous operation for 178 years having started right here in Crompton, Rhode Island.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Hollie, Pamela G., “Crompton’s Nemesis: Imports” (New York Times, Nov. 21, 1984).
","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).
","West Warwick, Rhode Island Statewide Historical Preservation Report, (Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, 1987)
"],"factoids":["Death of America’s oldest textile firm: having started in Crompton, Rhode Island in 1807, the Crompton Company said that, after 178 years in the fabric business, it could not reverse its losses. ''At this time last year we were on a roll,'' said William G. Lord 2d, president of Crompton, a corduroy and velveteen maker. ''Then it was like cutting us with a knife.''
\nCrompton has closed its mills in Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. Its work force has been cut to just 110, from a high of more than 4,100 in 1980. Its customers, which included Polo by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Healthtex and Levi Strauss, were finding other sources for corduroy and velveteen.
\nThe Company acknowledged that it was Crompton's reluctance to change its basic two-product mix, along with its failure to diversify and its refusal to market aggressively, that left the company vulnerable to competition from abroad.
\n''This is the end of the company as we know it today,'' Mr. Lord said. ''We were a small, specialized family company.''
"],"files":{"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/bd21c59fe128b214afb24138e26351d2.jpg":{"id":1680,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"North end of Crompton Mill","description":"North end of Crompton Mill | Larry Manire | 2021","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/bd21c59fe128b214afb24138e26351d2.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/a8e3a12cb6aad5464df9b5ebe719dbd5.jpg":{"id":1681,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Current aerial view of Crompton Mill site","description":"Crompton Mill complex. | Google Maps | 2021","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/a8e3a12cb6aad5464df9b5ebe719dbd5.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/4d16bde312e5a1c9c7ef86a7df2bdc90.jpg":{"id":1682,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Crompton Mill west of river","description":"Crompton Mill west of river (burned 1992); Portion of Crompton, Rhode Island lithograph, 1889. |O.H. Bailey & Company Lithographers, online here.
| 1889","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/4d16bde312e5a1c9c7ef86a7df2bdc90.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/106f74800ef028a2c0bf2446bd9fb60c.jpg":{"id":1683,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Crompton Mill east of river.","description":"Crompton Mill east of river; Portion of Crompton, Rhode Island lithograph, 1889. | O.H. Bailey & Company Lithographers, online here. | 1889","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/106f74800ef028a2c0bf2446bd9fb60c.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/1d1465b6e9395c0e44b38cefd25fccff.jpg":{"id":1684,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Crompton Mill complexes","description":"1911 Lithography by A.L. Bodwell showing Crompton Company mills. |American Textile History Museum, Lowell, MA online here.
| 1911","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/1d1465b6e9395c0e44b38cefd25fccff.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/bf0149732a8ed643f562068b3fe0cd9b.jpg":{"id":1685,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Crompton Mill burns","description":"Fire, blamed on an arsonist, destroyed the Crompton Mill in West Warwick on May 15, 1992. |\"Last gasp of once-vital mill came after most signs of life were gone,” (Providence Sunday Journal, 10/31/1993).
| 1993","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/bf0149732a8ed643f562068b3fe0cd9b.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/original/a6d42f3055dfbdcddbff3cb93be058e1.m4v":{"id":1686,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"1992 Crompton Mill, west building fire","description":"Channel 10 on-the-scene news report of 1992 Crompton Mill fire. | Video on Youtube | 1992 | Glenn Butterfield"}}}