Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District
About this property
The Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District is a national historic district located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It includes 85 contributing buildings. It encompasses 19 stylistically varied mill buildings and six rows of workers' housing. They were developed between 1871 and 1930 in the vicinity of northeastern Getty Square along the banks of the Saw Mill River. The main mill building was originally built in 1871 and expanded between 1876 and 1883. It is a three-story, rectangular building, 52 bays wide and five bays deep in the Second Empire style. It features a four-story tower and a five-story tower. The workers' housing, known as Moquette Row, North and South, was built between 1881 and 1886. Many workers that lived in this housing originally were immigrants to the United States. They came from Scotland, Ireland, and Ukraine. The carpet works were developed by Alexander Smith (1818-1878) The company closed the Yonkers mills and relocated to Greenville, Mississippi, in 1954. At the time of its closing, there were 2,400 who worked at the carpet mill. At the time of World War II, there was 7,000 employees who worked at the mill.It was later absorbed into Mohawk Carpet, later Mohasco Corporation. The carpet weaving industry was revolutionized by looms invented in this plant by Alexander Smith and Halcyon Skinner. Skinner, an engineer, designed a loom known as the Axminster power loom (also known as the Moquette Loom), which revolutionized the production of carpets. A patent for this loom was created in 1877 and royalty rights were sold to European and American companies at the rate of twenty cents per yard of carpet produced. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Today, members of the YoHo Artist Community work out of two of buildings, located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue.
Location
Categories
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.
Everything a full report reveals about Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District
This page lists Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District listed on the National Register?
Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 1983.
What type of historic resource is Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District?
Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District?
The period of significance for Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Westchester County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Westchester County.
Explore WestchesterCounty ›More historic places in New York
Browse all historic places in New York.
View New Yorkhistoric sites ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Smith, Alexander, Carpet Mills Historic District will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.