Whitin Machine Works

Colonel Fletcher's 1772 Blacksmith Forge is also still standing, next to the Brick Mill, on the west bank of the Mumford River.

In 1845, Betsey Whitin and her sons built a new, stone textile factory, largely of granite known as the Whitinsville Cotton Mill, which gave the family business 7,500 more spindles.

The Whitinsville Cotton Mill would later be used as a testing facility for new equipment developed by the Whitin Machine Works, across the street.

In 1847, the Whitins built "The Shop," which consisted of a new textile production area that was four times larger than the brick mill.

Life in the village revolved around "the shop," providing the means and the opportunity for successive generations of mostly Europeans to immigrate.

The Whitins allowed any employee who heated their homes with wood access to their properties to cut down as many trees as needed, free of charge.

The company constructed the first reservoir, creating meadow pond, (west of Main St.) which was the first system that pumped water directly into village homes.

A typical sight on weekends would be the villagers sailing and fishing on the pond using equipment rented from the company-provided facility.

It is well known, for instance, that during slow times in the shop, John C. Whitin would hire idle employees to work on his property, farms, or, as in 1879, to build the Town Hall as a memorial to his late father and mother.

[2] Referred to as "The Shop" in Whitinsville, for more than fifteen years, the massive facility was converted into a complex that has been replaced with 26 different businesses employing approximately 2,000 people.