First Mills
By: Jessica F., Vanessa R., Megan B.
When were the first mills made along the Chicopee River?
What kinds of mills were they?
The
items we have examined were local advertisements for businesses at Putt’s
Bridge. Putt’s Bridge is the bridge from Ludlow to Springfield over
the Chicopee River, close to where the bridge is today. The bridge was
located near Wallamanumps Falls, where there was once a drop of 42 feet in the
Chicopee River. One of the first people to do business in the area was
Abner Putnam. Abner Putnam was a businessman who moved from Sutton, Massachusetts
to Ludlow in 1796, with his wife Abigail and his three sons, James, Nathan, and
Amos. He lived in the Wallamanumps region, where he built a mill that successfully
produced scythes for over 16 years. The Wallamanumps Falls played an important
role in Ludlow’s growing industry. Ludlow was a small agricultural
town and developed into a large town because of the industrial growth in its
first 150 years. Ludlow played a small role in the huge Industrial Revolution
in New England in the early 1800’s.
There were other businesses and industries in the area because of the Chicopee River. We looked at three advertisements that were displayed in local newspapers in 1806 and another advertisement was from 1816. In June 2, 1806 an advertisement was displayed for wool carding by Clap and Putnam’s Mills.
1806 advertisement for wool carding
Another advertisement was for the carding machine on June 12, 1806 from Parsons Clap & Company, (carding is the process of straightening wool to make thread), and one for cloth dressing on September 6, 1806, from Clap and Putnam’s Mills.
1806 wool carding advertisement
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Another advertisement
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This last advertisement from July 2, 1816 was for timber. Any person looking for timber could buy it from Moody and Clarke at Putt’s Bridge.
1816 sawmill advertisement near Putt's Bridge
These advertisements tell us that business and industry were starting along the Chicopee River in the early 1800’s. Both textile mills and sawmills were by the Chicopee River at this time.