Last week I was in Rhode Island to attend my daughter's gallery show at the Rhode Island School of Design. I had always wanted to check out Slater Mill, the birthplace of the textile Industrial Revolution in the USA.
http://www.slatermill.org/My husband agreed to the outing and off we went to Pawtucket. We took the tour of the 3 buildings that comprise the mill site and really enjoyed learning about this piece of American history. We started off in the house, amazed that over 2 people had lived here at one time. Of course my favorite parts were the loom from the 1880's and the spinning area in the basement.
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| hackles used for flax that was grown on site |
The spinning wheel was used to spin the flax grown on site and used to clothe the family. The loom was also used to make the fabric used for the family's clothing. The basement room contained the "kitchen" as well as a Great Wheel, another wheel from the 1800's as well as a skein winder. The machinery shop was powered by a water wheel. The textile mill was used to produce cotton fabric. Moses Brown was an abolitionist and did not use slave labor, instead child labor was used in the mill. Here are some photos taken during my visit. If you are interested in learning more about Slater Mill, I suggest you go to their website, or if you are in the area, take a tour of the mill
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| The machine shop was powered by a water wheel and was used to produce and repair machinery as well as to create wood bobbins |
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| a cording machine |
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| A cotton gin |
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| Shuttle had a brass tip and was known to have impaled workers if it became loose from the loom. |
