Slater Mill Photos

Slater Mill Historic Site in Pawtucket, RI, is considered the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. This site on the Blackstone River was selected in 1793 because it had both falls for water power, yet allowed ships to dock nearby to unload heavy bales of cotton. The mill's output centered around thread production & textiles. Knowlege for how to build mill machinery was taken out of England at a time when the death penalty applied to such industrial espionage. Today the museum complex has an important collection of antique textile machinery, some operational.

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Slater Mill complex on Blackstone River, on a site offered both water power & ship access. Pawtucket, RI.	Slater Mill Historic Site pond overview. Pawtucket, RI.	Wilkinson Mill (1810) which milled the tools used in adjacent Slater Mill. Pawtucket, RI.	Rough stone surface of Wilkinson Mill. Pawtucket, RI.

Water wheel which powered Wilkinson Mill. Pawtucket, RI.	Gears which transmitted power from water wheel in Wilkinson Mill. Pawtucket, RI.	Planking machine which surfaced lumber boards in Wilkinson Mill. Pawtucket, RI.	Wilkinson Mill & Sylvanus Brown house at Slater Mill Historic Site. Pawtucket, RI.

Sylvanus Brown house (1758) occupied (1784-1824) by the patternmaker who made the machinery for the Slater Mill. Pawtucket, RI.	Shaker boxes, part of the furnishings of the Sylvanus Brown house. Pawtucket, RI.	Slater Mill over mill raceway. Pawtucket, RI.	Slater Mill entrance tower. Pawtucket, RI.

Slater Mill bell tower once used to signal workers to wake up & then again to come to work when workers lacked clocks. Pawtucket, RI.	Slater Mill & dam (1793), the first cotton mill in America, now an industrial museum. Pawtucket, RI.	Cotton Gin (1930) by Carver Cotton Gin Company of East Bridgewater, MA automated process of removing seeds from cotton. Pawtucket, RI.	500 lb bale of cotton as shipped from Southern US plantations. Pawtucket, RI.

Cotton bale breaker (c1840) where rotating spikes chipped off pieces from compressed cotton bales. Pawtucket, RI.	Mannequin reminds Slater Mill visitors that running a cotton carding machine (replica c1790) was dangerous child labor. Pawtucket, RI.	Cotton carding engine (c1870) by Franklin Machine Co., Providence RI. Pawtucket, RI.	Cotton drawing frame (1922) by Howard & Bullough, Accrington, England & Pawtucket. Pawtucket, RI.

Speeder / Roving Machine (c1830) by Locks & Canal Co., Lowell, MA. Pawtucket, RI.	Arkwright Water Frame (replica c1775) after R. Arkwright, Derbyshire, England. Pawtucket, RI.	Throstle Spinning Frame (c1835) Locks & Canal Co., Lowell, MA. Pawtucket, RI.	Thread Manufacturing Machine or Spinning Mule (1909) by Hetherington & Sons, Manchester, England. Pawtucket, RI.

Hetherington Spinning Mule in expanded position where child labor once worked under mechanism fetching broken threads. Pawtucket, RI.	Jacquard loom where wooden punch cards programmed pattern to be woven. Pawtucket, RI.	Details of Jacquard loom at Slater Mill Historic Site Museum. Pawtucket, RI.	Narrow Fabric Loom (1899) by Crompton & Knowles, Worcester, MA. Pawtucket, RI.

Circular Knitting Machine (1891) by Tompkins Brothers Machine Co., Troy, NY. Pawtucket, RI.	Circular Knitting Machine technical details. Pawtucket, RI.	Maypole Braider (c1872) by New England Butt Co, Providence, RI. Pawtucket, RI.	High-Speed Braider (c1920) by Wardwell Braiding Machine Co., Central Falls, RI for wrapping electrical wiring with insulating thread. Pawtucket, RI.

Stained glass advertising salvaged from New England Butt Co, Providence, RI. Pawtucket, RI.	Church seen across mill waterfall at Slater Mill Historic Site. Pawtucket, RI.