It has been a good week weaving in the old mill at
Harrisville Designs. I have learned a lot about the history of this town in the
last few days and am fascinated by the story of the preservation after the Cheshire
mill belonging to John Colony (Chick’s father) closed in 1970. Harrisville is a
National Historic Landmark which is a somewhat rare designation in the United
States. It is deemed the best preserved national historic industrial village.
When the mill closed in 1970, Historic Harrisville, Inc. was born. Within the
space of about a year they figured out how to save the town when the source of
employment dried up, found funds, bought 6 old mill buildings, and Chick Colony
opened Harrisville Designs as a yarn spinning mill to preserve the nature of
the town as a fiber producer.
Harrisville was a small village where people could live,
work, and shop. Many never left the town to go anywhere else. Due to Historic
Harrisville’s preservation efforts, the town has remained a place where people
can work in the mill, shop in the general store, and live in the affordable
housing program. Historic Harrisville has been able to generate rental income
from the historic buildings they own and those businesses along with Harrisville
Designs employ the people who live here.
Current projects include restoring the use of water power in
the town with an existing turbine at the end of Goose Brook. Harrisville
originally started here because there is a one hundred foot drop of water from the
ponds at the top of the town through a small brook to more ponds below. That
drop was used to power the workshop of Jonas Clark in the late 1700s for the
fulling and finishing of cloth. From there various fiber-related industry began
using the power of the water to run the machines. Over the last century that
also included daming and diverting the water source to maximize production and
control when the water was released… during hours they could work the mill.
Harrisville is an out of the way place and I think the town
likes it that way. It isn’t on a main highway and you have to come looking for
it. It is a lovely place to take a fiber workshop. The old brick building is
large and the ghosts of the old spinning mill keep your fingers moving in the
warp.
The current Harrisville Designs store and workshop space upstairs was one of the original mills here in the 1800s:
I have enjoyed teaching at HD and hope to return here before
too long. More pictures are coming soon of the spinning mill visit on
Wednesday.
As I was sitting by the lake yesterday evening three baby
ducklings were playing in the water near my feet. Their mama was diligently
watching them. After about an hour they all swam off.
