Product Code Database
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is a community that developed around one or more textile or other industrial mills, where the local economy centered on mill production and company owners typically provided housing, stores, schools, and other services to support workers and their families. Emerging prominently during the early 19th-century Industrial Revolution, mill towns harnessed water power from rivers to mechanize textile manufacturing, initially concentrating in New England before expanding southward, where they eclipsed northern production by the 1920s through lower labor costs and abundant resources. These towns featured a paternalistic social structure, with mill corporations exerting broad influence over daily life to ensure labor stability and productivity, fostering economic booms that built infrastructure but also vulnerability to market fluctuations, technological changes, and eventual deindustrialization.
Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only entire urban industrial complex from the 19th-century to be preserved in Europe.
Some former mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).
| Congleton, Crewe, Macclesfield |
| Glossop, Hadfield, New Mills |
| Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Chadderton, Failsworth, Heywood, Hyde, Lees, Leigh, Manchester, Middleton, Oldham, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Reddish, Rochdale, Royton, Shaw and Crompton, Stalybridge, Stockport, Wigan |
| Accrington, Bacup, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Calder Vale, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Nelson, Oakenclough, Padiham, Preston for others see table below. |
| Batley, Bingley, Bradford, Brighouse, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Keighley, Morley, Mytholmroyd, Ossett, Pudsey, Shipley, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Yeadon |
The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.
| +Spindleage of some large mill towns in and around Greater ManchesterSourced from a book entitled Cotton Mills of Greater Manchester, although not all of these towns are within Greater Manchester. between 1830 and 1962 |
| 92 |
| 182 |
| 103 |
| 1,772 |
| 14 |
| 268 |
| 122 |
| 162 |
| 10 |
| 68 |
| 58 |
| 548 |
| 271 |
| 161 |
| 2,478 |
| 278 |
| 983 |
| 122 |
| 154 |
| 352 |
On his tour of northern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:
The term mill town was revived in the British media during the debate over relations between whites and British Asian in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns in the early 2000s, including the 2001 Oldham riots and 2001 Bradford riots.Nick Cohen, Fist in the kid glove, The Guardian, 1 July 2001Andrew Norfolk, July suicide bomber 'is an invisible poster boy', The Times, April 28, 2006 It's time to stand up, UNISON, 17 April 2003 The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines that suffer from sometimes significant Racism. Some mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns" because of the large number of British Pakistani Muslims who live there. After the Second World War, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they moved to traditional working-class areas whilst the white working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war. The Arrival of the Asian Population, Cotton Town: Your Town, Your History
In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.
| Ansonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Collinsville, Danbury, Derby, East Windsor, Enfield, Glastonbury, Hartford, Killingly, Madison, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Putnam, Sandy Hook, Seymour, Shelton, Torrington, Vernon, Waterbury, Willimantic, Winchester, Windham, Windsor Locks |
| Anson, Auburn, Augusta, Baileyville, Biddeford, Brunswick, Chisholm, Corinna, Lewiston, Lincoln, Lisbon Falls, Livermore Falls, Millinocket, Milo, Monmouth, Newport, Old Town, Orono, Pittsfield, Portland, Rumford, Saco, Sanford, Skowhegan, Waterville, Westbrook, Wilton |
| Adams, Amesbury, Athol, Attleboro, Boston, Chicopee, Clinton, Dalton, Dedham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Grafton, Greenfield, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopesdale, Hudson, Lawrence, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Maynard, Medford, Merrimac, Methuen, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, North Adams, North Andover, Northbridge, Orange, Palmer, Peabody, Pittsfield, Rowley, Russell, Southbridge, Springfield, Taunton, Uxbridge, Waltham, Ware, Webster, Westborough, Winchendon, Worcester |
| Belmont, Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, East Rochester, Franklin, Gonic, Gorham, Greenville, Groveton, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Keene, Laconia, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lincoln, Manchester, Milford, Milton, Nashua, Newmarket, Newport, Penacook, Pittsfield, Rochester, Rollinsford, Somersworth, Suncook, Tilton, Troy, Wilton |
| Allaire Village, Allentown, Bernards, Boonton, Butler, Camden, Chester, Clinton, Cranbury, Cranford, Dover, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Freehold, Griggstown, Helmetta, Hillsborough, Imlaystown, Jamesburg, Kearny, Kingston, Little Falls, Manville, Medford, Millhurst, Milltown, Millville, New Brunswick, Newark, Orange, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Prallsville, Rahway, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Scobeyville, Smithville, South Brunswick, Stillwater, Tinton Falls, Trenton, Walnford, Wharton, Woodbridge |
| Albany, Amsterdam, Aurora-on-Cayuga, Beacon, Belmont, Bloomvale, Buffalo, Clinton, Corning, Dumbo, Gardiner, Ithaca, Kingston, Little Falls, Marlboro, Mechanicville, Middletown, Montgomery, New Berlin, New York Mills, Newburgh, Newcomb, Niles, Philmont, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Rome, Roslyn, Saddle Rock, Schenectady, Schuylerville, Sleepy Hollow, Stony Brook, Sunset Park, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Victory, Water Mill |
| Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Coventry, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence, Slatersville, Valley Falls, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket |
| Bellows Falls, Bethel, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Burlington, Ludlow, Newport, Springfield, Vergennes, Winooski |
| Biron (Biron Mill) |
| Fairfax (Fairfax Mill and Fair View Mill), Lanett (Lanett Mill), Langdale (Langdale Mill), Sylacauga (Avondale Mill), Opelika (Opelika Mill), River View (Riverdale Mill), Shawmut (Shawmut Mill), Valley (Carter/Lanier Mill) |
| Amity, Beirne, Calion, Crossett, Delight, Dierks, Glenwood, Jones Mill, Malvern, Mountain Pine |
| Bibb City, Cabbagetown, Chicopee, Hogansville, New Holland, New Manchester |
| Ellicott City, Jerusalem, Oella, Owings Mills, Savage |
| Alamance, Altamahaw, Bellemont, Burlington, Bynum, Canton, Caroleen, Carolina, Carrboro, Cliffside, Coleridge, Concord, Cooleemee, Cramerton, Drexel, Eden, Edgemont (East Durham), Enka, Falls, Franklinville, Glen Raven, Glencoe, Hanes, Haw River, Henrietta, High Falls, High Shoals, Hildebran, Hope Mills, Kannapolis, Long Shoals, Mayodan, McAdenville, Mooresville, Mount Holly, Oakdale, Ramseur, Rhodhiss, Riegelwood, Roanoke Rapids, Sawmills, Saxapahaw, Spencer Mountain, Swepsonville, West Durham, West Hillsborough |
| Cateechee, Central, Cherokee Falls, Columbia (Olympia and Granby Mills), Fort Mill, Glendale, Graniteville, Great Falls, Inman, Joanna, La France, Lockhart, Lyman, Newry, Pacolet Mills, Pelzer, Piedmont, Slater-Marietta, Startex, Ware Shoals, Watts Mills, Whitmire, Judson, Dunean, Park Place, City View, Sans Souci |
| Carrier Mills, Harrisburg | |
| Roseburg | |
| Washington | Longview |
| Eau Claire | |
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