Not Run of the Mill

 

This past Friday found me paddling down the Charles River in Waltham, MA to the above pictured Boston Manufacturing Company mill below the Moody Street Bridge.  This mill was built in 1814 and is said to have been the first place in America where raw cotton was transformed into finished cloth all under one roof.  In the mill's early days the machines used in manufacturing were operated by young women known as "mill girls" who lived in company-owned boarding houses.  They worked an 80-hour six day work week.   This system of manufacturing was called the "Waltham System".   While I'd known of the Boston Manufacturing Co. mill and the role it played in America's Industrial Revolution I didn't really grasp how it was a departure from an existing system of mill operations known as the "Rhode Island System".  The Rhode Island System was the pattern developed by Samuel Slater at his 1793 mill on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, RI.   Today the Boston Manufacturing Co. mill houses the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation which is a museum of the American Industrial Revolution.  

A few days earlier on Wednesday I'd paddled the Assabet River between the Hudson Light Plant and the dam at the Gleasondale Mill...

Post-paddle while researching the history of the Gleasondale Mill I came across a study done for the Stow Planning Board by the UMASS Center for Economic Development which mentioned the Gleasondale Mill being "a classic example of the Rhode Island System"... and describing the Rhode Island System as where mill  "owners attempted to replicate the patterns of traditional New England life for their employees.  Company-owned houses were built near the mills, to accommodate workers and their families.  Schools, stores, and churches soon followed."  According to the study the first textile mill at Gleasondale was built in 1813 when the village was known as Rock Bottom. This is just one year before the Boston Manufacturing Co. mill was built in Waltham.   Thus these two mills were built around the same time, on different rivers, following different systems of operation.  As I understand it the Rhode Island System created mill villages, whereas the Waltham System went bigger and created mill cities such as Lowell, Lawrence, and Manchester, NH all on the Merrimack River.   

Being out on the Lakes District of the Charles River in Waltham on a late October day was a treat...

...and there was still some fall foliage to be enjoyed...

The Waltham Watch Factory maintains its commanding presence alongside the river...

...and I believe this facility followed the "Waltham System" in the mass production of watches.

Getting back to my earlier paddle on the Assabet River I encountered this fellow seemingly sunbathing on a cloudy day with occasional drizzle...

...a northern water snake I believe.

When I came by a little later the snake wasn't there but this hawk was observed in a tree near the same spot and appeared to be drying its wings...

Wrapped up the week with a paddle yesterday on the Sudbury River between Sherman's Bridge in Wayland, MA and Fairhaven Bay in Concord...

Lee's Bridge from the Lincoln side...

Unfortunately the bridge has been tagged with graffiti for the first time that I'm aware of.

Trash for the week included 60 nip bottles and a fair bit of Styrofoam in addition to plastic containers:

Wednesday's from the Assabet...

Friday's from the Charles...

Sunday's from the Sudbury...

This plastic bag seemed appropriate on Sunday with it being the day before Halloween...