Also in this section Historic Clinton: A walking guide Sources No. 1 based on information provided by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. No. 2 reprinted from "Images of America: Clinton", by Terrance Ingano, published by Arcadia Publishing. External links History of Wachusett Reservoir |
The history of Clinton
Bigelow Carpet Company, early 1900's (Photo courtesy Bill Weiler)
1. The Town of Clinton straddles the valley of the south branch of the Nashua River and is the site of the Wachusett Reservoir, formed by damming the river in 1905 to provide drinking water for the City of Boston. Clinton's terrain was partly shaped by retreating glaciers which created the present landscape. The town's abundant water power potential invited textile manufacturing, and a diverse ethnic population followed the creation of mill jobs. These included Irish, German, Scots and English immigrants who worked in the cotton and fabric mills and made combs. The invention of power looms brought young women from New Hampshire and Vermont to tend the looms. The town was incorporated in 1850 and was already a sizeable community with over 3,000 in population and the fourth largest manufacturing center in Worcester County. Clinton benefited greatly from the ability and ingenuity of the Bigelow brothers, Horatio and Erastus, who invented new kinds of power looms and set up profitable mills to house them. By 1850 five million yards of cloth was woven by 700 mill employees and in the following year an additional 2 million yards of lace, tweed and pant fabric was being turned out at the mills in Clinton. The Bigelows continued to refine their equipment, developing rug weaving looms and wire cloth looms. Ancillary industries sprang up in town, such as
foundries and machine shops, to service the mills and companion
factories for making clothing, shoes and boots were also established.
Clinton became successively the state, national and world leader
in the manufacture of carpets, cotton gingham and wire cloth and
by 1885 was the largest carpet maker in the world. Not unexpectedly,
there are also early records of labor movement activity in Clinton,
which was the site of the notorious Lancaster Mills strike in
1912 with its mass meetings, picketing and riots. The huge mills
of the early 19th century still remain in use, housing a diverse
group of manufacturing uses. 2. Rural Lancaster, formed in the mid-1600s, originally included the area now known as Clinton. The first industries in the region were combs and textiles. The Bigelow brothers, Horatio and Erastus, originally from West Boylston, came to the Lancaster area to set up a new textile business for weaving an ornamental cloth bordering known as coachlace. Erastus invented a power loom to mass produce this cloth and Horatio created a company to manufacture it. They chose the name, "The Clinton Company," because of their love for the DeWitt Clinton Hotel in New York. Thanks to this new industry, the district first became known as Factory Village, then Clintonville. Bigelow's invention dropped production costs of coachlace from 22 cents a yard to 3 cents a yard and created many new jobs in the area. Within ten years another Bigelow loom was invented for the power weaving of counterpane, a heavy raised-design cloth. This brought even more people to the area seeking employment. In 1845, Erastus Bigelow received a patent on a new loom that revolutionized the making of gingham cloth, and the brothers went to work and created a new company, Lancaster Mills on Green Street, to manufacture this bright, plaid cloth. The influx of engineers, merchants, and professionals brought about a building boom to the area. New roads were laid out, houses and tenements built, and stores and shops formed - Clintonville had its first major industry! It was becoming more and more evident that Clintonville was taking a completely different path than her "mother" town, Lancaster. Clintonville was a hustling, bustling little manufacturing village; Lancaster was a quiet, farming community. Lancaster's population was scattered over many miles; Clintonville's population was very highly concentrated - 90 percent of the population lived within ONE square mile! Clintonville had fresh young blood and intense enthusiasm; Lancaster was a rather settled, static, and conservative community. Finally, in 1850, Lancaster accepted the inevitable division and "Clinton" became legally incorporated on March 14, 1850. The Bigelow brothers influence was far from over, however. Their crowning achievement was the development of the carpet loom. The Bigelow Carpet Company in Clinton manufactured the world's best carpets from 1849 to 1933. Its carpets could be found in the White House, the U.S. Senate and House, the State House, the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the SS Titanic, and many of the finest restaurants and theaters in the world. The Bigelow brothers final company, the Clinton Wire Cloth Company, produced woven metal screening and fencing. Erastus and Horatio Bigelow not only gave Clinton its name, but actually created wealth in this village that would prove to be our economic base for many years. Although Erastus was the famous inventor, Horatio had an even greater impact on this community. The school department, fire department, library, local banks, and many churches in town all got their start thanks to Horatio Bigelow. Central Park, the town common, was given to the town by Mr. Bigelow. Clinton's involvement in the Civil War was well documented. The Clinton Light Guard, a forerunner of today's National Guard unit, was organized in 1853 with fifty local men. In 1860, interest rekindled in anticipation of the slavery issue coming to a head. On March 4, 1861, Clintonians appropriated $1,000 for the benefit of the Light Guard to prepare for war. Thus Clinton was the first town in the entire state to appropriate money in anticipation of a call for troops. Clinton furnished about 139 percent of her required quota of soldiers - a remarkable record and proof of how anxious local men were to enter the war. It is believed that no other city or town in the Commonwealth could beat that record! The building of the Wachusett Dam and Reservoir at the turn of the century changed Clinton forever. The Metropolitan Water Board selected the south branch of the Nashua River in Clinton as the best site for Boston's new water supply. Churches, factories, homes, and schools within the valley had to be knocked down or moved. Roads and rail lines had to be relocated; a railroad tunnel and trestle had to be built in order to relocate the Central Mass. Line; and over four thousand bodies had to be dug up and moved in the local Catholic cemetery. The project brought thousands of immigrants to the area for work; it proved to be one of the most amazing engineering feats in history, and is still considered the largest "hand dug" dam in the world today. |
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