Mar. 17, 2026

Industrial revolution in full force. The city used to be the center of cotton milling and textile manufacturing using water power. Several of the old mills are now condos and restaurants. Walking around the city center, nostalgia of brick smoke stacks and old stone boarding houses are mingled with modern art sculptures dedicated to milling or local legends such as Jack Kerouac. One old mill is open as part of the park. It had the electrical pully systems running but the looms are silent. Most of the mills were shut down by the 1930s as cheaper labor combined with more advanced technology was available elsewhere.