American Printing Company (Fall River Iron Works)
[1] The company grew as an offshoot of the Fall River Iron Works, established in 1821 by Colonel Richard Borden and Major Bradford Durfee.
After an uncertain start, in which some early investors pulled out, the Fall River Iron Works was incorporated in 1825, with $200,000 in capital.
The Iron Works began producing nails, bar stock, and other items such as bands for casks in the nearby New Bedford whaling industry.
The Iron Works would continue to play an important role in the early development of the textile industry in Fall River.
In 1848, the Fall River Iron Works constructed an office and warehouse building along the waterfront in Providence, Rhode Island and retained the location until 1881.
[4] In 1824, Andrew Robeson, arrived from New Bedford and established the first Print Works in the city,[5] a segment of the industry that Fall River would in later years come to dominate.
In the 1840s, the railroad would be extended to the Print Works site, adjacent to the steamship pier with regular service to Providence and New York City.
[7] For three generations, the Borden family dynasty would have control or business interests in the city's banks, the gas company, steamboats, railroads and mines.
The Fall River Iron Works, the cloth-producing division of the company and had a huge capacity of 485,288 ring spindles and 12,702 looms.
By 1910, or so, the Northern mills also faced serious competition from their Southern counterparts due to factors such as lower labor and transportation costs, as well as the South's large investment in new machinery and other equipment.
World War I had provided a much needed boost in demand for textiles, and most of the mills in New England benefited during this time.
In 1924, following the example of some other large northern mills, the American Printing Company built a new plant at Kingsport, Tennessee, and began moving much of its production there.
In 1937, their huge factory complex on Water Street was acquired by the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, and soon employed 2,600 people.
On October 11–12, 1941, just eight weeks[10] before the attack on Pearl harbor, a huge fire broke out in the old 1860s mill of the print works.
The fire was a major setback to the U.S. war effort, as Jesse H. Jones, Secretary of Commerce, reported that 15,850 tons (31,700,000 pounds (14,400,000 kg)) of rubber was lost in the blaze, valued at approximately $7,000,000.
[14] Much of the old growth Longleaf Pine timbers used to construct the buildings were salvaged during demolition and have been recycled into new flooring and millwork products.
