History of the Shawsheen River, part 4
In 2022, the Town of Andover commissioned the History Center to write the history chapter of the town's Master Plan for the Shawsheen River. This is part four of the chapter.
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PART 4: 1800s
Read Part 1, the deep history of the area
Read Part 2, 1646-1700
Read Part 3, 1700s
Introduction
“While the newest resident may think of Andover as organized by roads, it was actually oriented toward the Shawsheen River. Main Street did not exist until 1806, and Central Street, the main thoroughfare to Boston, paralleled the river. Water powered the early mills, so population centers grew up along the Shawsheen: Ballardvale, Abbot Village (around present-day Dundee Park), Marland Village (Stevens Street), and Frye Village (now Shawsheen Village).”1
As Andover’s industrial villages continued to grow and change throughout the 1800s, the names of mills and the products they produced become more familiar to us. For example, by the end of the 19th century, because local production of flour and ground grain was no longer necessary to the survival of the community, grist mills were gone from the landscape. Woolen mills and factories were in operation all along the river until the mid-20th century.
Starting in the mid-1800s, as the coal mining industry grew and railroads expanded, the power-supply for New England mills began to shift from water-power to coal-power. Dams that powered the mills in the first half of the century became less important by the end of the 19th century.
The dams and mill ponds that powered New England industry since 1646 stayed in place even as coal replaced water power. But the mill ponds and heightened water level the dams brought new, recreational uses for the river that would blossom in the early 20th century.
Social, Cultural, Recreation
The mineral springs that fed into the Shawsheen River became destinations in the early 1800s. In 1812, Mssrs. Holt and Osgood made improvements to the mineral spring on what would become Red Spring Road. The site was visited by “many invalids from all parts of the state, who remained in town for a season, to enjoy its invigorating benefits.”2 In 1890, Paul Hannegan of Lawrence bought the Red Springs and made improvements to the site, including a reservoir to store water that he would take to market. Water continued to flow from a pipe on the site for individual use, “Two weeks ago Sunday the number who drank from the spring was over 300.”3
In Ballardvale, the mineral springs became the “Lithia Springs” bottling company.
With industrialization came the new concept of leisure time. Individuals, small business, and big companies searched for and created opportunities for people to spend their leisure time. Small businesses rented and sold bicycles and canoes.
During the winter months, ice skating on mill ponds along the river was a popular, but unsafe, activity. Unheeded warnings sometimes had dire consequences.
Railroad companies created leisure destinations along their lines to attract passengers. Ballardvale became one such destination in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. Recreational use of the Shawsheen River would rise dramatically in the first few decades of the 20th century.
In 1894, the Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS) was formed to preserve the character and natural resources of the town. AVIS is the second oldest land preservation society in the U.S. Acquisition of open space, including reservations along the river, increased in the 20th century and by 2022, the organization owned 29 reservations totaling approximately 1,100 acres.
19th century Andover mills
Starting in the south part of town, the mills in Ballardvale continued to change hands throughout the 19th century. In 1833, Abel Blanchard, who was a paper maker, purchased the grist and saw mills, and water privilege from Timothy Ballard’s estate. The next year, the deed was sold to a group of four men – Daniel Poor, Abel Ballard, Abraham Gould and Mark Newman. The group laid the foundation of a brick mill intended to be a paper mill, however, in 1835 they incorporated as the Ballard Vale Manufacturing Company and partnered with John Marland to produce woolen goods.4
In 1838, Ballard Vale Manufacturing Company raised and improved the dam crossing the Shawsheen River. That same year, due to flowage rights and laws, property owners above the dam, whose property was damaged by the change in the river, were awarded compensation.5
In 1844, John Marland built a wooden mill building for woolen production. He piped water from the springs (later called the Lithia Springs) to his woolen mill for use when fulling fabric. The minerals in the water produced a higher-quality product.6 Marland later sold the mill to J. Putnam Bradlee.7
Moving north along the Shawsheen River, in 1810 Abraham Marland established a cotton mill. The next year he converted the mill to woolen production. Worsted blankets produced by Marland’s mill were used by troops during the War of 1812. Many years later, in 1890, the Abbot mill was demolished and the Smith and Dove Village Hall was built in its place (Essex Street at Gradall Lane). This area would become known as Abbot Village, and later still, Dundee Park.
In 1813, Abel and Pascal Abbot established their woolen mill on the west side of the river where the former Redman Card Company operated (Oak & Iron Brewery today).8 In 1824, John Howarth built the stone mill on the east side of the river to produce woolen goods. The stone mill still remains and is the oldest building in the Dundee Park complex.
Major changes came to Abbot Village in 1843 when the Abbot mill was sold to the Smith and Dove company. Smith and Dove would go on to purchase the Howarth Mill, which was razed in 1895. Over the next 50 years, the company gradually moved from its previous location in Frye Village to Abbot Village, enlarging, razing, and rebuilding the mill buildings to suit production. In 1843, the company had expanded operations to Abbot Village. By 1880, three hundred operatives were processing two million pounds of flax each year.9 By 1894, Smith and Dove had moved all of its operations to Abbot Village. The company also provided housing, a community center, and recreational facilities along the river.10
Further north along the Shawsheen River, Marland Village also grew throughout the 19th century. In 1820, Abraham Marland began to move his operations from Abbot Village to the new village that would bear his name. He first leased and later purchased mill and water privileges, the old paper and grist mills, and worker tenements. M.T. Stevens purchased the mill in 1879.11] By 1896, the Marland Mills employed 200 operatives and manufactured 875,000 pounds of wool yearly.
Heading further north in the area of Penguin Park, in 1830, Ephraim Mayo established a brick and tile yard on clay flats along the river.
In Frye Village, in 1829, the Smith and Dove mill opened. The company started producing cotton, but switched to linen in 1833 because the owners did not want to be associated with the southern slave states and cotton. The mill was powered by the Shawsheen River. The company moved to Abbot Village by the end of the 1800s.
Also in Frye Village, in 1830, Elijah Hussey bought the grist and saw mills and laundry stocks on the west side of the Shawsheen River. Water to power the mills came from Hussey’s Pond, which drains into the Shawsheen River. The laundry operation would continue in this location, under a number of owners, into the 20th century.
In the second half of the 19th century, Andover’s industrial villages along the Shawsheen River became home to substantial industrial textile factories. These large factories required more power than their predecessors. Large mills required “broader, sturdier dams, wider and stone-lined raceways that resembled canals more than the narrow, shallow sluices and wooden troughs of pre-industrial times; and bigger, more powerful, and faster-moving waterwheels. Their buildings were usually made of stone or brick rather than wood, and rose as high as four or more stories. Rather than just one or two mill hands, each of the new mills employed dozens – sometimes hundreds – of men, women, and children.”12
By the 1870s, the textile factories had outgrown water power. The newly-expanding American coal industry and railroad system provided the fuel for new coal-fired steam boilers.
Along with larger mills came more water pollution. Tanneries, like the one on Roger’s Brook, were among the worst polluters, followed by pulp and paper producers. Sawdust from saw mills settled into riverbeds and behind dams, contributing to flooding. Organic material, like the acidic liquids used by fulling mills, depleted oxygen in the water, killed aquatic life, and spoiled water supplies.
Until the mid-1800s, fabric dyes came from natural sources: insects, roots, plants, minerals. In 1856, the first synthetic dye, made from coal tar, was discovered. With the invention of chemical dyes, run-off from textile mills became more toxic.13
As industrial use of rivers grew throughout the 19th century, water use laws changed. Early laws could resolve differences between individuals and a small number of parties, however that changed as corporations and factories grew. The later 19th century adoption of reasonable use laws favored industrial polluters without necessarily unfavorably impacting other water users. However, the balancing tests that followed allowed industrial companies to take water use and land from others without compensation. Since that time, new layers of laws have been added to protect the interests of others, including the recreational use of water resources.14
Railroads
The first railroad to come to town was the Andover Wilmington Railroad in 1835. The track was laid through Lowell Junction on the east side of the Shawsheen River across Preston’s Plain.15
As the mills expanded, railroad lines were relocated to be closer to the mills of Ballardvale, Marland, and Abbot Villages, and the Shawsheen River.16 New lines were added to bring coal and supplies to the mills. The new rail lines also served the new city of Lawrence which was established in 1845. The train tracks were laid in 1847 and opened in 1848.
Now that the Buzz is back, in January I’ll post the fifth and final installment of this series on the History of the Shawsheen River. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to sharing new stories from other History Buzz writers.
Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a comment, like, and subscribe. You can help make History Buzz more visible to other history-loving readers.
~Elaine
Resources 1800s
Andover Historic Preservation website
Andover Townsman, Andover Stories: The Railroad Comes to Andover, Don Robb, December 2, 2021
Bailey, Sarah Loring, Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts, Riverside Press Cambridge, 1880
Historic newspapers, MHL.org, Andover Advertiser and Andover Townsman
Mofford, Juliet Haines, Andover, Massachusetts: Historical Selections from Four Centuries, Merrimack Valley Preservation Press, 2004
Paavola, Jouni, Water Quality as Property: Industrial Water Pollution and Common Law in the 19th century United States, Environment and History, August 2002, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp295-318, White Horse Press.
The Mill Museum: Windham Textile and History Museum – The Mill Museum, https://millmuseum.org/swift-waters-the-industrial-environment/
Richardson, Eleanor Motley, Andover: A Century of Change 1896-1996, for the Andover Historical Society, 1995, page 79ead Part 3, 1700s
Andover Advertiser, June 5, 1858
Andover Townsman, May 31, 1890
Mofford, 99
Historic Preservation website, 210 Andover Street
IBID, 52 Porter Road
IBID, BID, 14 Dundee Park
IBID 63-65 Essex Street
Richardson, Eleanor, A Century of Change, p81
IBID, 14 Dundee Park
Richardson, p84
https://millmuseum.org/swift-waters-the-industrial-environment/
https://library.si.edu/exhibition/color-in-a-new-light/making#:~:text=In%201856%2C%20an%2018%2Dyear,product%20of%20coal%2Dgas%20production.
Paavola, Jouni, Water Quality as Property: Industrial Water Pollution and Common Law in the 19th century United States
Historic Preservation website, 268 Andover Street
Andover Townsman, December 2, 2021