CITY MILLS
There were literally scores of mills built over the years at City Mills and with the number of mills and the surrounding housing built for the owners and workers in the mills it was truly, a city of mills.


BACKGROUND
The City Mills section of Norfolk, formally known as Franklin City, encompasses an area that was first called Jack's Pasture. In the late 1660s Cornelius Fisher and Joseph Kingsbury settled in the area, perhaps near the current location of the Holme's property at Myrtle and Hanover Streets. According to historical records at least 4-5 homesteads were located in this area as early as the 1680s, built on the Indian trail from Medfield to Wrentham, including that of John Boyde who built a house at River End in 1681 which was later to become the residence of our famous Dr. Nathaniel Miller.
In 1694 Henry Adams built a corn mill in the area that was referenced in the will of Ebenezer Ware of Jan. 22, 1720. The will mentioned a "way" laid out from James Blake Esq.'s property on today's Seekonk Street to "Adam's Mills". This would most likely be the general path of today's Main Street. The mill is later also mentioned in the laying out of a surveyor's district on May 29, 1736 as "Adam's corn mill.


CITY MILLS & AMERICAN FELT COMPANY
Major Eli Richardson was born in the vicinity of City Mills, during the later half of the 18th century per the chronicles of North Franklin. He wanted to build a cotton mill at the second privilege on the Charles river. In order to own land in that area he exchanged farms with Elisha Richardson and established himself at this loacation in early 1800 - although according to Blake he sold half his farm to his brother Elisha and then bought land in the present City Mills area.
In 1810 Asa and David Thayer opened a store at City Mills, selling their straw braid that they received from customers in exchange for goods and provisions to the Fischer, Day & Co. In 1812 they moved their store to Franklin center. Theirs was only the second straw goods firm in the country.
In 1811 Eli Richardson Jr. (born in 1781) established the first Post Office in the area, a full year before one was established in the center of Franklin. He was the first postmaster in town, built the "city factory" and was a prominent citizen in the community.


In 1819 Major Richardson, now the owner of a cotton factory on the pond, built an impressive home on the hill next to the factory. He also built a stone store there as well. The store later became the first Franklin (Franklin City) Post Office and on the second floor of the store you could often hear the musical sounds of the Norfolk brass band and the City Mills Fife and Drum Corps who used the hall for practice rehearsals. By the mid 1800s a complex of mills had sprung up in the area below the damn. In the spring of 1875, the dam above City Mills, at Whiting's Pond - known today as Lake Pearl - burst and nearly drowned Edwin Alonzo Morse as he was swept away in a mass of mud, railroad ties and rails before being rescued by Owen Shields a railroad trackman. The flood is also said to have destroyed the original felt mill on the City Mills pond but the factories were rebuilt and even as late as 1895 The American Felt Mill was operating a thriving business there. The stone store was taken down in 1914 by William Swett, the then owner of Major Richardson's magnificent house, because he wanted to extend his front yard further down to the edge of the roadway. As late as 1930 Norfolk Day celebrations were held on Swett's expansive front lawn as residents pitched food tents and celebrated with picnicking and fun activities. The big red barn from the Richardson estate, which had housed Swett's impressive collection of automobiles, still remains on property at the curve in the road, on the right hand side as you head towards present day Franklin - although his impressive house no longer is on the site - as Swett, in a dispute with the town of Norfolk, had it torn down board by board in 1935 and left the country shortly thereafter. He died a few years later in Italy, reportedly in a bathtub. Some say that the Major's house was was not destroyed but later reconstructed in neighboring Wrentham and is now hiding underneath the vinyl siding that covers the present day Pond House on Rt 140.


The work in the mill helped many young people gain the necessary money to get off to a good start in farm life and although most used their earnings to establish local farms, others took to work at the mill and stayed on for years - consider William R. Supple of County Cork, Ireland who in 1874 began a 25 year tenure in charge of the dyeing department at the City Mills Felt Co. The tax records indicate how the mills prospered, expanded and changed ownership over the years.


1860 Adams Daniels owned the mill and the privilage. On the property were 6 houses, barns and stock houses for which he was taxed.
1870 S. M. Aldrich of Woonsocket, RI was taxed for $5000 worth of machinery, 1 store, 10 houses and a barn.
1875 Stephen M. Weld was taxed for $6800 worth of machinery, a factory, a store, 11 houses and 35 acres of land beside woodland and pasture.
1880 The City Mills Company of Franklin was taxed for $10,000 worth of machinery, $7500 for a factory and an engine, house $800, for a store, 10 houses, 2 barns, privilage and 62.5 acres of land, divided into pastures, tillage and unimproved land.
1885 The City Mills Company was taxed for a steam boiler and engine, more machinery, a boiler house and a chimney, a stock house besides the smaller house for tenants and the usual amount of land.
1890 The City Mills Company of Franklin was taxed $22,000 for machinery, a new mill, 2 stock houses, 6 new houses and the Comey house and stable beside the old plant.
1895 A dye house and water tower appear on the tax roles along with 2 stables and a barn.
1900 The American Felt Company of Boston, MA was taxed $30,000 for machinery, houses - consisting of 17 tenements, tree barns and 10 stock houses besides the store.
1910 The American Felt Company was taxed $42,000 for machinery. The old mill and machinery was taxed for $21,300, the new mill and machinery for $17,200.
1915 The American Felt Company was taxed $67,000 for machinery. The old mill was taxed for $48,000, the new mill for $70,000 besides the former buildings. The dam was estimated at $10,000 and the mill site and water rights for $72,000.
1920 The American Felt Company was taxed $312,400 for the plant.
1925 - 1930 The felt factories were still running but most of their manufacturing operations would remain for only a few years more.
1970 The Lord and Jealous Co. were operating at City Mills.
1976 Today Camgar Shemicals operates in the mill area, producing paint and varnishes. It is one of only a few manufacturing enterprises still remaining in the Town of Norfolk. Camger Chemicals has been located on the property at 364 Main Street since 1976 consisting of approximately 1.96 acres and 0.92 acres parcels. The property is bordered by residential property to the northeast, by Main Street and City Mills Pond to the southeast, by undeveloped land to the southwest, and by Mills River to the northwest.
More information from the town of Norfolk website ...click here... http://www.town.norfolk.ma.us/public_documents/norfolkma_historical/Villages