Lawrence Machine Shop, Union & Canal Streets, Lawrence

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS MASS,5-LAWR,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

East side of Union Street, North of Canal Street, Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts. Geographic Location Code: Latitude: 42 29' 45" N Longitude: 71 09' 15" W Everett Mill Properties, New York, New York. The building Is occupied by a number of separate firms. Light manufacturing, sales and warehouse storage. This building was built over a two year interval begijining in I846 for the purpose of manufacturing and repairing textile machinery for the newly established mills of Lawrence. It is one of the two oldest mills in the city and one of the few stone mill buildings in the Merrimack Valley. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1.

Original and subsequent owners: The Lawrence Machine shop was built by the Essex Land and Water Company which owned it until April 1, when the original company was reorganized as the Lawrence Machine Shop Company. Due to legal formalities, the new company did not take possession of the property until June, In July, the machine shop and foundry were sold to a Mr. Dana, identified as the Mayor of Charlston, Massachusetts. Within a year, a new firm, the Everett Mills, acquired the building and converted it into a cotton textile mill which began operation on January 1, It remained under this ownership until when, through liquidation proceedings, the building was sold to a New York based corporation, Everett Mill Properties, that has retained the property up to the present time 2.

Date of erection: Construction began on June 10, I846 and the building was completed in 3. Architect, builder, suppliers: Construction was super- vised by Caleb M. Marvel. C. S. Storrow may have designed the building. Builder: The Essex Land and Water Company. Total construction cost: LMEMCE MACHINE SHOP (also known as EVERETT MILLS) HABS No. MASS-988 (Page 2) 4, Original plans,, construction etc.: The original plan was a rectangle, long on the north/south axis by wide on the east/west axis. Projecting from this basic shape were three towers for pedestrian circulation on the west elevation and three water closet towers on the east elevation. The tower placement is symmetrical within their respective elevations.

The building contains four identical floors and an attic that is capped by a slate sheathed gable roof. The structural system consists of load-bearing stone exterior walls and slow-burning timber mill construction for the floors, supported on the interior by cast iron columns. 5. -Alterations and additions: Between the eummer of i860 and January 1, the building was converted from a machine shop to a cotton textile mill, A two-story addition was made on the south side of the building sometime after B, Historical Events Connected with the Structure: 1. This building was designed as an integral part of the new industrial town of Lawrence as it was planned by Charles Storer Storrow in the mid-eighteen forties.

Its function was the manufacture and repair of machinery for the town's textile mills as well as the general manufacture of machinery. 2. The firm exhibited a stationary steam engine at the New York Crystal Palace Exhibition of 3. Names associated with the initial firm: -Abbot Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, Ignatius Sargent, William Sturgis, Charles Storer Storrow, Caleb M. Marvel and Aretus Blood. (The latter two being superintendents of the machine shop.) 4* Lawrence Machine Shop: Albert Fearing, J. Wiley Edmunds, Andrew T. Hall, Samuel Batchelder, Peter Butler, Gordon McKay (agent), John C. Hoadley (superintendent), N. S. Bean (superintendent). 5. Everett Mills: Samuel Batchelder , President. C. Sources of Information: 1, Primary and unpublished sources: Advertisement.

Lawrence Machine Shop . Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution, LAWRENCE MACHINE SHOP (also known as EVERETT M1LIS) HABS No. MASS-983 (Page 3) Norrell, Thomas. MS: "Account of the Lawrence Machine Shop." Silver Spring, Hi., (circa Complete carbon copy in Division of Transportation, Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution. Plan showing water works, titled: "Sketch made Aug. Merrimack Valley Textile Museum, North Andover, Mass. Plan and elevation (two sheets). Plan titled: Ground Plan of the Lawrence Machine Shop , dated July Elevation titled: Elevation of East Side of Machine Shop , , n. d. Both items in the collection of Mr. Thomas Morrell, Silver Spring, Maryland. Copies in HABS Photo-Data Book.

Plan and isometric drawing (one sheet), titled: Sverett Mills. Lawrence Ms . Factory Mutual Insurance Company Album, Plant Department, Norwood, Mass. Copy in HABS Photo-Data Book. 2. Secondary and published sources: City of Lawrence. Lawrence Gazetteer . Lawrence: Charles G. Merrill, 165 pp. Dorgan, Maurice B. History of Lawrence, Massachusetts . Cambridge: Maurice B. Dorgan, 26? pp. McKay, Gordon. Lawrence Machine Shop . Boston: Lawrence Machine Shop, 16 pp. Smith, F. Morton. The Essex Companyon the Merrimack at Lawrence . New York: The Mewcomen Society of England, 32 pp. Stone, Grra L. History of Massachusetts Industries . Boston: S. J. Clark, 4 vols. Wadsworth, H. A, History of Lawrence Massachusetts . Lawrence: 179 pp. PART II. ARCHITECTURAL IHFCBMATION A. General Statement: 1.

Architectural character: This building is one of the two oldest industrial buildings in Lawrence and one of the LAWRENCE MACHINE SHOP (also known as EVERETT MILLS) HABS Mo. (Page 4) few remaining stone mill buildings in the Merrimack Valley. 2. Condition of fabric: Good. B. Description of Exterior: 1. Over-all dimensions: 445 ! x ' , fifty bays; four stories; rectangular in shape. 2. Poundat ions: St one. 3. Wall construction: Load-bearing ochre colored field stone, random course ashlar. Slow-burning timber con- struction, supported by load-bearing exterior walls and cast iron interior columns. 4- Porches, stoops, bulkheads, etc,: None. 5. Chimneys: None. 6. Openings: a. Doorways and doors: Three (3) wood double doorways located in the western towers. b.

Windows and shutters: Double-hung wood sash; for the lower three floors and for the top floor. No shutters. 7. Roof: a. Shape, covering: Slate sheathed gable roof over wood plank and rafters, supported by slow-burning timber trusses and wood purlins. b. Cornice, eaves: Granite cornice with a shallow projection. c. Dormers, cupolas, towers: Three towers symmetrically placed on the west facade, with the ridges coinciding with tne height of the main roof ridge. Three towers, approximately symmetrical, on the east facade, with the ridges intersecting the main roof five feet above the eave line. C. Description of Interior: 1.

Floor plans: All floors are identical and rectangular in plan, with a double row of cast iron columns running the entire length of the building and dividing the interior LMRENCE MACHINE SHOP (also known as EVERETT MILLS) HABS No. MA3S-9S8 (Page 5) width into three aisles of approximately 24 I - 9 I S lO'-O" and 24 r - 9" respectively. The basement is located on grade, apparently at the elevation of the base of an originally sloping terrain. Thus the site has been cut into and made level in a westerly direction extending to the west facade of the stair towers, where the entrances occur at a grade level that coincides with the first floor. This modification of the site permitted full natural lighting for the basement as well as the three upper floors of the building. 2.

Stairways: Three located in the three towers on the western side of the building. The stairs are made of wood and have winders, 3. Flooring: Built-up tongue and groove wood floor, total thickness approximately 3", supported on 12 x 14 and 12 x 16 wood beams. 4. Wall and ceiling finish: Walls are white-washed masonry above 5 r - l" wood tongue and groove wainscot. Ceilings are exposed wood plank and beam construction. 5. Doorways and doors: Wood frames and wood panelled doors with lights; set in masonry arched openings. 6. Decorative features and trim: Cast iron lotus capitals of interior columns. Globe window motif, top center of north elevation and top center of the central tower on the west. 7. Notable hardware: None. 8.

Mechanical equipment: Butterfly shut-off gate and mechanism, south penstock; basement. Two turbines and generators (c. currently in operation. D. Site and Surroundings: 1. General setting and orientation: The building is approxi- mately due east of Union Street and is approximately equidistant from Garden and Canal Streets. 2. Landscaping: None. 3. Outbuildings: The machine shop was constructed as part of a buildings complex that included a boiler house, foundry, storage and office buildings. Their arrangement on the site is best illustrated in item 4 of the primary and unpublished sources. LifoffiENCE MACHINE SHOP (also known as EVERETT MILLS) HABS No. MASS-988 (Page 6) Prepared by Robert M. Vogel and Ted Sande National Park Service August July, PART III.

PROJECT INFORMATION This building was recorded as part of the Mew England Textile Mill Survey I; which was sponsored by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation of the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Merrimack Valley Textile Museum. The project was assisted by the Manchester (New Hampshire) Historic Association, the Manchester Housing Authority and Mr, Francis C. Welch, President of the Essex Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts. The field work, historic research and record drawings were done in the summer of under the direction of Robert M, Vogel (Gurator of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution), Project Director; Larry B.

Nichols (Architect, Cornell University), Project Supervisor; Ralston H. Nagata (University of Hawaii), Architect; and Phillip J. Black (University of Oklahoma), R. Randolph Langehbach (Harvard University), Stuart E. MacDonald (University of Minnesota) and Raul G. Reyes (University of Arizona), Student Assistant Architects. Historic documentation and editing of the project data were done in the summer of by Ted Sande (Architect, University of Pennsylvania), under the auspices of the Historic American Engineering Record of the Office of -Archeology and Historic Preservation of the National Park Service. Addendum to: Lawrence Machine Shop (Everett Mills) Union and Canal Streets Lawrence Essex County Massachusetts HABS No.

MA-988 HA6S REDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, DC ADDENDUM TO HABS No. MA-988 LAWRENCE MACHINE SHOP (Everett Mills) Union and Canal Streets U^-ft^ Lawrence Essex County Massachusetts ^ifitjfc PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY MID-ATLANTIC REGION, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA I I GENERAL STREET J U_ Hi UJ C j_ CO z O z 13 ] CANAL STREET C Kev to Photographs Addendum to Lawrence Machine Shop ( Everett Mills ) HABS No. MA-988 ( cage 2 ) C c ? a J 13 I> ^ 12* 1 B*L /*) 12 rr 2* N A T M B Lawrence Machine Shop ( Everett Mills ) HABS No.

MA-988 ( page 3 ) GENERAL STOEET c c ie % i 1* | | IS fc CA | | ISA 1> so 2A I 38 3C B ] SA RACEWAYS 3 CANAL ST. OUAMOHOUSe Complete Site Plan - 2 & Core - 15A) Outlined