{"nrhp_refnum":"82004946","name":"Berkshie Mill No. 1","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Hoosac St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Adams","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.62495901300008,"lon":-73.11846501699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half-story red brick cotton mill with an entry tower and attached engine and boiler houses, at the corner of Hoosac and Columbia Streets in Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was built in 1889 for the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company; F.P. Sheldon & Son is named as builder/architect.","why_significant":"The mill is tied to the rapid growth of Adams after the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company successfully introduced fine cotton manufacturing in the late 1880s. The company became the town's largest industry. The mill also keeps its integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship, and is the surviving original mill of the Hoosac Street group.","narrative":"Built in 1889 at the corner of Hoosac and Columbia Streets in Adams, Berkshire Mill #1 is a red brick textile mill of three and one-half stories, set on a granite plinth with granite trim. A four-and-one-half-story entry tower carries a date plaque, arched wall panels, corbelled cornices and a high hip roof, and it holds the mill's only architectural ornament. Engine and boiler houses were added at the northeast corner before 1914. The mill was built by the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, formed by sons of William B. Plunkett after a fire destroyed an earlier paper mill on the site. It aimed at fine cotton goods rather than coarse cloth. The company grew quickly, added more mills nearby, and by 1905 employed about 2,000 of the town's 4,000 workers. Later demolition of Mills 2 and 3 left Mill #1 much as it stood in 1889, with its corner site and railroad-side setting intact.","period_of_significance":"1889; boiler room 1904, 1914 (specific dates given)","architect_builder":"F.P. Sheldon & Son","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in good condition. The main building is largely original apart from a replaced front door and some temporarily blocked windows. Mills 2 and 3 have been demolished.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.574996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/7943/63794368/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004946.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004946/daf0ff386b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004946/daf0ff386b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Dougtone","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adams,_Massachusetts_-_8297307158.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dougtone</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adams,_Massachusetts_-_8297307158.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794368","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshire_Mill_No._1","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4892278"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/berkshie-mill-no-1-82004946/"}