929 Riverside Dr
North Grosvenordale, CT 06255
Coworking Space Property For Lease

In 1864, two years after completing the 5-story mill in lower Masonville, William Grosvenor purchased the plant and water privilege of the Fisherville Co., about one mile up the French River from Masonville. In 1868, when Masonville was renamed Grosvenordale and the Grosvenor-Dale Co. was incorporated, Fisherville became North Grosvenordale. The company chose the north village for the site of its most ambitious project, building in 1872 the huge Mill No.2 or North Grosvenordale Mill. It is comparable in scale to Connecticut's largest textile mills: Ponemah, Wauregan and Baltic. Like these others, Mill No. 2 was owned by a firm based in Providence and it specialized in finer cottons such as cambrics and high-count sheetings. Four stories tall and 464' x 75', it resembles a brick-pier mill because the segmentally arched windows are recessed in the walls, but there are no pilasters. The cornice is corbeled. There are two stair towers on each long side, at the quarter points. The 5-story west towers are smaller 245 and less ornate than those to the east, which are 6-story with corner pilasters, corbeling between the fourth, fifth and sixth levels, and domed roofs. A 4-story, 135' x 70' brick wing extends west from the center of the mill. The wheelpit beneath the wings held three turbines; the initial installation yielded 400 horsepower, but the masonry dam was raised c.1900 and new turbines installed that provided some 700 horsepower.