The village is mainly centered on East Hartford Ave, up Whitin St, across Linwood Ave and back to East Hartford. It does spread out a little west, but at the time there were only meadows separating the 2 large mills from the other buildings.
The mills were built in 1823-25 for the Crown Mill and 1827 for the Eagle Mill. They were connected by the structure spanning the Mumford River in 1851. They are the only existing mills in New England with clerestory-monitor roofs.
Right across the street the was a Community Center built in 1830. The first floor contained a company store, second floor was used for meetings and church affairs and the third for tenements.
Also on this side of the street was a collection of multi family housing for the workers. These were mainly brick, but also included some wood structures. These were simple single story brick buildings and my guess were for the more unskilled workers.
Along East Hartford Ave, were 2 story brick residences, much larger that the ones above and in a nicer setting.
Further from the mills but still within an easy walking distance were the wood multi unit housing.
East of the two mills is a cotton mill that was built in 1810, called Clapp Mill. This was moved to this location sometime in the 1820's and converted to tenement living. It is beyond me how they moved buildings like this back in the 1800's other than taking them apart and reassembling them. They must have had a method because I have found this pretty common.
Right across the street is another tenement.
Gray Rock was the owners mansion, since torn down. On site is a memorial for parents that have lost a child.
The last building in the district was used for cotton storage and is adjacent to the mill, set back a bit. These are part of a condo complex now.
This village is pretty compact and is a perfect example of what the old mill towns were like in the 1800's
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AWESONE STUFF
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