Baltimore Industry Tours

Cotton Mills of the Jones Falls

  • Owners:
  •      
      Horatio Gambrill
  •      
      Mt Vernon Company
  •      
      Wm. E. Hooper
  •      
      Mt. Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company
  •      
      Poole & Hunt Foundry
 

Rockland Grist Mill (Grain and cotton)
2201 Old Court Rd., Brooklandville

Mt. Washington Mill (Cotton)
1340 Smith Ave.

Poole & Hunt Foundry (Machinery and Metalwork)
Union Ave. & Clipper Park Rd.

Woodberry Mill (Grain) and Woodberry Factory (Cotton)
1760 Union Ave.

Park Mill
(Sceine netting)
1750 Union Ave.

Druid Mill (Cotton)
1500 Union Ave., between Union Ave. and Delwood Ave.

Hooperwood Mill (Cotton)
3500 Parkdale Ave.

Meadow Mill
(Cord)
3600 Clipper Mill Rd.

Number 11 White Hall Mill (Grain then Cotton) and Clipper Mill (Cotton)
3300 Clipper Mill Rd.

Number 10 Mt. Vernon Mills (Cotton)
Chestnut St. and Falls Rd.

1780s
Revolutionary War ends, U.S. Constitution ratified

               

1789 — James Hickey and Matthew Patton advertise merchant mill and saw mill.

 

1790s
First Bank of the United States chartered, 1791; first cotton mill in U.S., Slater Mill in Pawtucket RI., 1793

     

1798 — Elisha Tyson and William E. Norris own grist mill on Jones Falls. William E. Norris dies, Tyson takes brother Nathan Jr. into partnership renamed W. & N. Tyson.

       

Owned by Philip Rogers and Owings.
1798 — Owned by James Ellicott and run by Joseph Scott.

 

1800s
Falls Turnpike built, 1806; Thomas Jefferson embargo on foreign imports in response to British impressment of American sailors, 1807; first cotton mill on the Jones Falls, 1809

Built as a flour mill sometime between 1806 and 1830

1809 — The Washington Cotton Mfg. Co. incorporated

               

1810s
Baltimore is world center for flour milling, War of 1812 with Britain

 

1810 — 228 spindles.
1819 — Some 60,000 yd of cotton was consumed to make yarn, some of it woven by hand looms.

               

1820s
Erie Canal completed and B&O Railroad incorporated as New York and Baltimore compete for trade with the west (new states Ohio and Indiana)

 

1820 — The census of manufacturers listed 1600 throstle and mule spindles, but only 750 of them were in use. Capital was $75,000 and employment was 4 men, 2 women, and 30 boys and girls; the property was rented out and the mill only partially in operation.
1825 — Jared Sparks, writing in the North American Review (January), listed 1600 spindles, 16 power looms, 1 dressing frame, and 150 employees.

               

1830s
First successful fully-automated weaving and spinning machines invented, Gambrill opens first mill, B&O Railroad opens coal fields of (West) Virginia, first regularly scheduled steam ships cross Atlantic

Grist mill converted to milling cotton, and a stone dye house was erected.
1836 — Maryland Print Works Company was incorporated to print 1-, 2- and 3-color calicos.

   

1837 — Mill offered for sale to benefit creditors of William Tyson and Lloyd Norris. Listed as Woodberry (Cox’s) Mill.

       

1833 — Owned by Ellicotts and leased to Isaac Tyson.
1837 — Leased to Nelson Gambrill, David Carroll, and Richard Hook. Hook sells interest, 1838.
1838 — White Hall Company incorporates with Thomas Lansdale, H. N. Gambrill, David Carroll, and associates.
1839 — Enlarge mill for weaving cotton duck.

1840s
Gambrill mills start using coal-powered steam power
1844 — William Morse invents the telegraph. Quickly adapted by cotton industry to send info between New Orleans and New York.
1845 — William E. Hooper and associates build steam-powered cotton mill in Canton on the waterfront.

 

1843 — Title passed from John Spear Smith to John S. and Robert S. Hollins.
1840s — Title passed to Thomas H. Fulton.

1843 — Robert Poole goes into business with William Ferguson on North Street.

1841 — Woodberry Mill "charged in assessment book" to Gambrill, Carroll & Co.
1843 — Flour mill burned.
1846 — Mill and ground rent assigned to H. N. Gambrill, and his associates, David Carroll, Henry Leef and William Mason to build a cotton duck factory.

     

1842 — William Mason, Horatio Gambrill, David N. Carroll and Henry Leef and the White Hall Company get “release of mortgage,” [paid off or release?].

1845 — Laurel Mill leased to William Mason, Horatio Gambrill, David N. Carroll (later Henry Leef replaces William Mason) for textiles.
1849 — Chartered with William Kennedy, Thomas Wilson, John B. Rowell, Joseph P. Grant, John Williams, and Thomas Whitridge.

1850s
Cotton manufacturing on the Jones Falls expands, William Hooper joins Gambrill in building Woodberry Factory. Poole & Hunt relocates to Woodberry.

1857 — Fire closes mill.

1850 —
Census of manufacturers listed Th. Fulton’s cotton manufactory with $350,000 capital investment, 30 male, and 70 female hands, water and steam powered annual output of 933,000 yd cotton ($70,000).
1851 — Lawsuit against Hollins and Fulton, and the court ordered the property sold.
1853 — Purchased by Horatio N. Gambrill and David Carroll for $21,000 (Towson deeds HMF 5:164).
1857 — The mill appeared on Robert Taylor’s county map as Washington Ravens Duck Factory.

1851 — Poole & Hunt formed.
1853 — Downtown Baltimore plant burns.
1857 — Company casts columns for U.S. Capitol. (AoC)

1858 — Downtown location discontinued and new works built in Woodberry.

Wm. E. Hooper, merchant, first partners with Gambrill in building Woodberry Factory.

1855 — Built by Horatio Gambrill, William E. Hooper and David Carroll for manufacturing seine netting (for fishing). \

   

1850 census — Owned by Samuel Tongue, 32 heavy Duck looms, 220,000 yd. cotton duck/yr. William Mason & Co. (?) sued by William & Hazlett McKim; factory conveyed to McKims, then conveyed to Horation N. Gambrill.
1854 — Caught fire, reduced to rubble, rebuilt as Clipper Mill.
1857 — Listed as “Hooper’s Clipper Cotton Duck Factory.”

1850 — Mill # 1

1853 — Mill #2 (Mill #3)

1860s
Civil War, and ready-made clothing becomes single most important industry in Baltimore, employing one-third of the industrial workforce. Hooper mills convert to spinning thread.

 

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1866 — Horatio Gambrill without partners opens Druid Mill, the largest cotton mill in the state.

Nov 6, 1865 — Clipper Mill burned (by arsonists?), rebuilt to double its capacity.
1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

2 mill yard cotton duck per year; wing of Mill #1 built, Mill #1 burnt

1870s
Depression of 1870, steam ships become practical

 

1877 — Hopkins county atlas showed Mount Washington Cotton Mill.

 

1879 — Woodberry Cotton Mill expanded.

1877 — Appears as Wm. E. Hooper and Co. paper mill in atlas.

Listed as Gambrill and Sons.

1877 — Built by Wm. E. Hooper and Co. as a cordage factory.

 

1873 — Mill #1 replaced

1880s
Founders Horatio Gambrill and Wm. E. Hooper die.
First electricity in Baltimore

 

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper in 1885, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1880 — Horatio Gambrill dies, his sons carry on business.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1881 — Mill #2 (now Mill #3) extension added, 1881. Mill #1 5000 spindles; Mill #2 (now Mill #3) 5000 spindles, employment 1600.

1890s
Depression of 1890, virtually all large Baltimore businesses sold to investors outside Baltimore, mills consolidate into cotton duck trust.

 

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

 

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1890 — Druid Mill bankrupt, bought by Woodberry Manufacturing Company.
1892 — Sold to Mt Vernon Mills and becomes Mill #4.
1899 — Mt Vernon Mills, Woodberry, and other U.S. mills combine into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

 

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Mt Vernon Mills combines with Hooper, Gambrill and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1900s
Hooper splits from cotton duck trust, builds new all-electric mill

   

1903 — Robert Poole dies, reorganized as Poole Engineering and Machine Company.

     

1904 — W. E. Hooper & Sons builds fully electrified independent mill

     

1910s
World War I, after economic troubles in the first part of the decade, war brings work and profits.

       

Sold after WWI; bought by Bes-Cone, Inc., manufacturer of ice cream cones. 2nd floor rented by Commercial Envelope Co., which eventually purchases entire building.

1917 — Sold to Poole & Hunt, which uses it as Pool’s Plant #2 for manufacturing washing machines and other appliances.

1913 — “Largest mill in the state.” 1917 — Hooperwood #2 and #3 built.

1915 — Reorganizes as Mt. Vernon Woodberry Mills, Inc.
1917 — Mills electrified.

 

1915 — Reorganizes as Mt. Vernon Woodberry Mills, Inc.
1917 — Mills electrified.

1920s
Strike of 1927, Mt. Vernon Mill union broken, several mills sold and production moved to the South

 

1923 — Sold to the Maryland Nut and Bolt Corporation, which later merged with ACCO. One old wing of the cotton works built in 1853, the brick part, continued in industrial use until 1972.

 

1924 — Sold to Frank G. Shenuit Rubber Co., a maker of automotive, aviation and industrial tires.

       

1921 — Mill race still holds water.
1925 — Sold to Purity Paper Vessels.

1930s
Great Depression. Hooperwood runs full shifts at half pay.

   

Poole & Hunt closes.
1935 — Foundry sold to Franklin Balmar Co., repaired train engines, machined airplane wings from solid blocks of metal.

   

Poole & Hunt closes.
1935 — Buildings sold

       

1940s
World War II, Hooperwood at 1200 employees

         

1940-1942 — Hand Printer, textile printing company.
1940-47 — Owned by Commercial Envelope Company.

 

1942 — Out of production.
1948 — Building air conditioned and windows bricked and sealed for for weaving synthetics.

 

Mills convert to weaving synthetics.

1950s
Korean War, Cold War. Baltimore reaches highest population.

         

Occupied by various manufacturers, including chrome furniture maker and janitorial supplies maker.

   

Clipper Mill is distribution center for Penguin Books

Reorganized as Mt. Vernon Mills, Inc.

1960s

Vietnam War. Meadow Mill sold.

   

Aero-Chatillon acquires Franklin Balmer Co.

1962? 1963? — Shenuit Rubber Co. closes, Last legal date mentioned is tax decision 1968.

 

1962 — Mill sold to Kramer Brothers Hobbies, makers of plastic products, including model train scenery.

 

1962 — Sold at auction to Londontown Mfg. Co., makers of London Fog rainware.

   

1970s
Gas crisis. Hooperwood sold

   

Built-In Wood Products, Inc., cabinet makers, buys foundry.

 

1972 — Commercial Envelope Co. inundated in flood of 1972; Commercial Envelope Co. eventually leaves city.

 

1976 — Monumental Enterprises sold Hooperwood Mills to Kenneth Mumaw, who subsequently subdivided and resold it.

 

I. Sekine Brush Company occupies Clipper Mill

1972 — Mills close and production moves to the South.
1972 — Mills #1, #2 and #3 bought by Rockland Mills for storage.

1980

Baltimore redevelopment begins with Harborplace. Mill Centre opens. Hooperwood closes..

   

Sign on Machine shop reads “Clipper Mill Industrial Park,” though Poole & Hunt was never part of Clipper Mill.

           

1987 — A group of developers rennovate Mills #2 and #3 as The Mill Centre, spaces for artists, galleries, and small businesses.

1990

Londontown closes last operating mill.

   

September 17, 1995 — Fire destroys much of the former machine shop.

       

1992 — Londontown Mfg. Co. sells Meadow Mill, redeveloped by Sam Himmelrich as artist studios, theater space, Meadow Mill Athletic Club, and shops.

   

2000
Poole & Hunt redeveloped as Clipper Mill Park.

   

Redeveloped by Stuever Brothers, Eccles and Rouse as Clipper Mill Park.

Redeveloped by Struever Brothers, Eccles and Rouse as part of Clipper Mill Park.

         

2010
Clipper Mill Park spurs redevelopment of area.

   

Currently a mix of homes and condos; small businesses including Gutierrez Studios, Corradetti Glass, and Biohabitats, Inc.; and Woodberry Kitchen, a restaurant.

2010 — 5-alarm fire, destroys roof, remains abandon.

Currently occupied by a variety of small businesses.

2010 — Purchased by Seawall Development Co., renamed Union Mill and redeveloped. Currently a mix of residences for teachers and city employees, offices, and Artifact Coffee, a cafe.

Occupied by a number of small businesses.

 

Awaiting redevelopment by Tera Nova Ventures, LLC, and slated to be renamed White Hall.

2013 — Mill #1 redeveloped by Tera Nova Ventures, LLC to include a mix of 90 apartments, office spaces, and restaurants in the boiler room and the picker building.