Granite Mills

The site was determined eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, but was omitted due to owner's objection.

[2] Workers on the upper floors faced a desperate choice, either jump five stories to the ground, or be burned to death.

[3] The Granite Mill fire was widely publicized in the press and became the subject of several folk songs found throughout New England and New York, as well as Nova Scotia, where many of the workers came from.

[4] The scandal led to reforms in the design of future mill buildings, requiring multiple exits and fire escapes.

2 was constructed in 1871 at the corner of Bedford Street and Robeson, from local Fall River granite in the Italianate style.

The sixth floor was flattened to a full story after the tragic 1874 fire in Mill No.1, due to safety concerns.

The company also built nearly one hundred triple decker tenement houses nearby for the accommodation of its workers.

In 1932 the Granite Mills were acquired by the Pepperell Manufacturing Company,[6] and continued to operate into the 1950s.

Granite Mill No. 2
Granite Mills No. 1 and 2
Mill No. 3, built in 1893