Cotton Mills of the Jones Falls

1780s
Revolutionary War ends, U.S. Constitution ratified

1789 — James Hickey and Matthew Patton advertise merchant mill and saw mill.

1798 — Elisha Tyson and William E. Norris own grist mill on Jones Falls. William E. Norris dies, Tyson takes brother Nathan Jr. into partnership renamed W. & N. Tyson.

Owned by Philip Rogers and Owings.
1798 — Owned by James Ellicott and run by Joseph Scott.

Built as a flour mill sometime between 1806 and 1830

1809 — The Washington Cotton Mfg. Co. incorporated

1810 — 228 spindles.
1819 — Some 60,000 yd of cotton was consumed to make yarn, some of it woven by hand looms.

1820 — The census of manufacturers listed 1600 throstle and mule spindles, but only 750 of them were in use. Capital was $75,000 and employment was 4 men, 2 women, and 30 boys and girls; the property was rented out and the mill only partially in operation.
1825 — Jared Sparks, writing in the North American Review (January), listed 1600 spindles, 16 power looms, 1 dressing frame, and 150 employees.

Grist mill converted to milling cotton, and a stone dye house was erected.
1836 — Maryland Print Works Company was incorporated to print 1-, 2- and 3-color calicos.

1837 — Mill offered for sale to benefit creditors of William Tyson and Lloyd Norris. Listed as Woodberry (Cox’s) Mill.

1833 — Owned by Ellicotts and leased to Isaac Tyson.
1837 — Leased to Nelson Gambrill, David Carroll, and Richard Hook. Hook sells interest, 1838.
1838 — White Hall Company incorporates with Thomas Lansdale, H. N. Gambrill, David Carroll, and associates.
1839 — Enlarge mill for weaving cotton duck.

1843 — Robert Poole goes into business with William Ferguson on North Street.

1841 — Woodberry Mill "charged in assessment book" to Gambrill, Carroll & Co.
1843 — Flour mill burned.
1846 — Mill and ground rent assigned to H. N. Gambrill, and his associates, David Carroll, Henry Leef and William Mason to build a cotton duck factory.

1842 — William Mason, Horatio Gambrill, David N. Carroll and Henry Leef and the White Hall Company get “release of mortgage,” [paid off or release?].

1845 — Laurel Mill leased to William Mason, Horatio Gambrill, David N. Carroll (later Henry Leef replaces William Mason) for textiles.
1849 — Chartered with William Kennedy, Thomas Wilson, John B. Rowell, Joseph P. Grant, John Williams, and Thomas Whitridge.

1857 — Fire closes mill.

1850 —
Census of manufacturers listed Th. Fulton’s cotton manufactory with $350,000 capital investment, 30 male, and 70 female hands, water and steam powered annual output of 933,000 yd cotton ($70,000).
1851 — Lawsuit against Hollins and Fulton, and the court ordered the property sold.
1853 — Purchased by Horatio N. Gambrill and David Carroll for $21,000 (Towson deeds HMF 5:164).
1857 — The mill appeared on Robert Taylor’s county map as Washington Ravens Duck Factory.

1851 — Poole & Hunt formed.
1853 — Downtown Baltimore plant burns.
1857 — Company casts columns for U.S. Capitol. (AoC)

1858 — Downtown location discontinued and new works built in Woodberry.

Wm. E. Hooper, merchant, first partners with Gambrill in building Woodberry Factory.

1855 — Built by Horatio Gambrill, William E. Hooper and David Carroll for manufacturing seine netting (for fishing). \

1850 census — Owned by Samuel Tongue, 32 heavy Duck looms, 220,000 yd. cotton duck/yr. William Mason & Co. (?) sued by William & Hazlett McKim; factory conveyed to McKims, then conveyed to Horation N. Gambrill.
1854 — Caught fire, reduced to rubble, rebuilt as Clipper Mill.
1857 — Listed as “Hooper’s Clipper Cotton Duck Factory.”

1850 — Mill # 1

1853 — Mill #2 (Mill #3)

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

1866 — Horatio Gambrill without partners opens Druid Mill, the largest cotton mill in the state.

Nov 6, 1865 — Clipper Mill burned (by arsonists?), rebuilt to double its capacity.
1865-1868 — Gambrill sells his interest to William E. Hooper along with all his other mill interests in Jones Falls Valley.

2 mill yard cotton duck per year; wing of Mill #1 built, Mill #1 burnt

1877 — Hopkins county atlas showed Mount Washington Cotton Mill.

1879 — Woodberry Cotton Mill expanded.

1877 — Appears as Wm. E. Hooper and Co. paper mill in atlas.

Listed as Gambrill and Sons.

1877 — Built by Wm. E. Hooper and Co. as a cordage factory.

1873 — Mill #1 replaced

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper in 1885, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1880 — Horatio Gambrill dies, his sons carry on business.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1886 — On death of Wm. E. Hooper, sons reorganize Washington, Park, Meadow, Woodberry and Clipper Mills as Woodberry Manufacturing Company of Baltimore County.

1881 — Mill #2 (now Mill #3) extension added, 1881. Mill #1 5000 spindles; Mill #2 (now Mill #3) 5000 spindles, employment 1600.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1890 — Druid Mill bankrupt, bought by Woodberry Manufacturing Company.
1892 — Sold to Mt Vernon Mills and becomes Mill #4.
1899 — Mt Vernon Mills, Woodberry, and other U.S. mills combine into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Woodberry combines with Gambrill, Mt Vernon Mills, and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1899 — Mt Vernon Mills combines with Hooper, Gambrill and other U.S. mills into Mount Vernon Woodberry Cotton Duck Company.

1903 — Robert Poole dies, reorganized as Poole Engineering and Machine Company.

1904 — W. E. Hooper & Sons builds fully electrified independent mill

Sold after WWI; bought by Bes-Cone, Inc., manufacturer of ice cream cones. 2nd floor rented by Commercial Envelope Co., which eventually purchases entire building.

1917 — Sold to Poole & Hunt, which uses it as Pool’s Plant #2 for manufacturing washing machines and other appliances.

1913 — “Largest mill in the state.” 1917 — Hooperwood #2 and #3 built.

1915 — Reorganizes as Mt. Vernon Woodberry Mills, Inc.
1917 — Mills electrified.

1915 — Reorganizes as Mt. Vernon Woodberry Mills, Inc.
1917 — Mills electrified.

1923 — Sold to the Maryland Nut and Bolt Corporation, which later merged with ACCO. One old wing of the cotton works built in 1853, the brick part, continued in industrial use until 1972.

1924 — Sold to Frank G. Shenuit Rubber Co., a maker of automotive, aviation and industrial tires.

1921 — Mill race still holds water.
1925 — Sold to Purity Paper Vessels.

Poole & Hunt closes.
1935 — Foundry sold to Franklin Balmar Co., repaired train engines, machined airplane wings from solid blocks of metal.

Poole & Hunt closes.
1935 — Buildings sold

1940-1942 — Hand Printer, textile printing company.
1940-47 — Owned by Commercial Envelope Company.

1942 — Out of production.
1948 — Building air conditioned and windows bricked and sealed for for weaving synthetics.

Mills convert to weaving synthetics.

Occupied by various manufacturers, including chrome furniture maker and janitorial supplies maker.

Clipper Mill is distribution center for Penguin Books

Reorganized as Mt. Vernon Mills, Inc.

Aero-Chatillon acquires Franklin Balmer Co.

1962? 1963? — Shenuit Rubber Co. closes, Last legal date mentioned is tax decision 1968.

1962 — Mill sold to Kramer Brothers Hobbies, makers of plastic products, including model train scenery.

1962 — Sold at auction to Londontown Mfg. Co., makers of London Fog rainware.

Built-In Wood Products, Inc., cabinet makers, buys foundry.

1972 — Commercial Envelope Co. inundated in flood of 1972; Commercial Envelope Co. eventually leaves city.

1976 — Monumental Enterprises sold Hooperwood Mills to Kenneth Mumaw, who subsequently subdivided and resold it.

I. Sekine Brush Company occupies Clipper Mill

1972 — Mills close and production moves to the South.
1972 — Mills #1, #2 and #3 bought by Rockland Mills for storage.

Sign on Machine shop reads “Clipper Mill Industrial Park,” though Poole & Hunt was never part of Clipper Mill.

1987 — A group of developers rennovate Mills #2 and #3 as The Mill Centre, spaces for artists, galleries, and small businesses.

September 17, 1995 — Fire destroys much of the former machine shop.

1992 — Londontown Mfg. Co. sells Meadow Mill, redeveloped by Sam Himmelrich as artist studios, theater space, Meadow Mill Athletic Club, and shops.

Redeveloped by Stuever Brothers, Eccles and Rouse as Clipper Mill Park.

Redeveloped by Struever Brothers, Eccles and Rouse as part of Clipper Mill Park.

Currently a mix of homes and condos; small businesses including Gutierrez Studios, Corradetti Glass, and Biohabitats, Inc.; and Woodberry Kitchen, a restaurant.

2010 — 5-alarm fire, destroys roof, remains abandon.

Currently occupied by a variety of small businesses.

2010 — Purchased by Seawall Development Co., renamed Union Mill and redeveloped. Currently a mix of residences for teachers and city employees, offices, and Artifact Coffee, a cafe.

Occupied by a number of small businesses.

Awaiting redevelopment by Tera Nova Ventures, LLC, and slated to be renamed White Hall.

2013 — Mill #1 redeveloped by Tera Nova Ventures, LLC to include a mix of 90 apartments, office spaces, and restaurants in the boiler room and the picker building.