History

Timeline

1790

First mill on the site, a sawmill, on Broad Brook, downstream from One Ferry Street

1859

Samuel Williston buys the saw mill and water rights

1860

First Williston spinning mill built. Manufactured cotton yarn and tent cloth for for the Army during the Civil War

1864

Williston mill expanded with the construction of what is now 5 Ferry Street. Mill utilized a 240-horsepower Corliss steam engine

1874

Williston dies; estate creates Williston Mills, Inc.

1879-1884

Teen workers stage a series of strikes to fight wage cuts, with some success. Work week is 60 hours

1892

Mill closes; company reorganized into The Easthampton Spinning Co.; mill re-opens

1899

West Boylston Manufacturing Co (WBMCo). buys the now-bankrupt Easthampton Spinning company; moves operations and several hundred French-Canadian workers from West Boylston to Easthampton

1900

Mill office building, now 3 Ferry Street, opens; Ferry Street mills spun off from WBMCo to Hampton Company

1909-1916

New mill buildings, including most of 7 Ferry Street, erected

1910

Workers employed at Ferry Street

1918

“The Battle of Vinegar Hill”: Women in New City, the workers housing development hurl produce and eggs at police over weavers’ un-heeded complaints.

1926

Rayon-production mill built, the last significant construction on the site before the present day.

1927

Production begins to move to Alabama, where company can pay lower wages and demand longer work-weeks

1934

The Great Depression prompts layoffs and strikes

1962

The last of the Hampton Company mills at Ferry Street close

2005

Daniel Messier & Peter Ward purchase the property with plans to build condos

2008

Recession hits ending all plans

2018

One Industrial Lofts, LLC and developer Mike Michon work with the City of Easthampton and Commonwealth of Massachusetts to develop grant funding to kick-start the One Ferry Street project.

2019

Ground breaking for One Ferry Street

The Story

Residential

Commercial

Galleries

One Ferry Project