National Register of Historic Places

Pilgrim Mills

Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts
Listed
February 16, 1983
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
83000704

About this property

Pilgrim Mills is an historic textile mill located at 847 Pleasant Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. The mill was built in 1911 from red brick and was the first mill in the city powered entirely by electricity, provided from the local grid. It was one of the last mill complexes built in the city. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Pilgrim Mills complex is located east of downtown Fall River, on the north bank of the Quequechan River, south of Pleasant Street near 18th Street, and separated from Quarry Street by a strip of commercial development. The main buildings of the mill, its spinning and weaving houses, are three stories in height and built out of brick. A boiler house and chimney are attached to the west side, and a picker house is attached to the main mill at its northwest corner. A three-story brick storehouse stands angled to be parallel to Pleasant Street near the north end of the main mill. The structure was designed by Charles W. Praray, a mill architect and engineer from New Bedford. Praray was the son of Charles A. M. Praray, a prominent mill designer from Providence who had practiced with Charles R. Makepeace, who had died in 1910. The contractors were Beattie & Cornell of Fall River. At its peak of production, it had a capacity of 53,568 spindles. In 1945 the factory was acquired by Louis Hand, Inc., which manufactured curtains. It was later known as Aberdeen Manufacturing and most recently as CHF Industries. The plant closed in March 2008. In May 2011 there was a plan to demolish the mill for residences, but it was rejected. The mill was occupied by a book warehouse https://www.heraldnews.com/news/20170302/dollar-book-outlet-closing-shop-on-saturday-march-11 that closed in 2017. National Register of Historic Places listings in Fall River, Massachusetts

Location

847 Pleasant St.
Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts
41.69915, -71.15100

Categories

INDUSTRYARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

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S. Gourse & Sons Block
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Borden, N. B., School
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Nearby Battles

Mount Hope Bay Raids (1778)
1778Revolutionary War
3.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Pilgrim Mills listed on the National Register?

Pilgrim Mills was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 16, 1983.

What type of historic resource is Pilgrim Mills?

Pilgrim Mills is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Pilgrim Mills?

The period of significance for Pilgrim Mills is recorded as the industrial era.

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