The Old Waterloom Mill

New Ipswich Historical Society

The Penstock

Penstock in Bank Village - undated photo

Newspaper Clipping -

A newspaper clipping (undated) about the Old Waterloom Mill in Bank Village.

The Old Waterloom Mill

The Columbian Manufacturing company has planned considerable work in this town as soon as the frost is out of the ground. A pen-stock will be run from No. 2 mill to No. 2 mill, High Bridge, having a diameter of five feet and nine inches, covering & distance of 2700 feet,

The tall chimney of "Waterloom" mill, towards 100 feet high, was taken down recently. An excavation was made on one side and wooden props placed in position; when all details were attended to, a fire was started under the wooden structure and the chimney fell in seven minutes.

The "Waterloom" mill was erected in 1821, originally 84 feet long and 40 feet in width, consisting of three stories, each 10 feet high, and all in one room. Later it was enlarged.

Sheeting was woven at first; later jeans and flannels, and blue denim of heavy quality which was a good seller in foreign markets. The Columbian Manufacturing Company purchased the mill in 1855. In 1895 the structure was condemned, dismantled and the machinery removed.

This is said to have been the second cotton mill erected in New England, the first cotton mill having been built in Slatersville, R. I., and the first in New Hampshire, where water power was used for running the looms. From this originated the name "Waterloom." 

James Wheaton Bliss, who became a citizen of this town in 1821, was a machinist and carpenter. He was the superintendent of the building of three cotton manufactories upon the Souhegan river, the "Waterloom," the Souhegan, destroyed by fire in 1838, which stood on the site of the present large cotton mill situated be- low High Bridge, and also the first of the cotton mills of the same company located in Greenville, N. H. Mr. Bliss also made or superintended the manufacture of a greater portion of the machinery used in these cotton mills, and was general manager until 1835, when a different division of duties was adopted.

“Recent” Penstock Photo - April 3, 2022