Russells Mills Village Historic District

Russells Mills is a small crossroads village in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, laid out along the Paskamansett River about seven miles south of New Bedford. The district holds forty-one wood frame buildings, thirty-seven of which contribute to its character. Settlement began in the 1660s and 1670s with the Russell family, and water power later drew as many as eleven mills for grinding grain, fulling cloth, working iron and sawing lumber. None of the mills survives, though dams, ponds and foundations remain. The surviving buildings include a ca. 1670 saltbox thought to be the oldest house in Dartmouth, Federal cottages, Greek Revival houses, a Second Empire dwelling, a general store, a town pound from 1831, a church, schools and a grange hall. Little has changed since the mid-nineteenth century, so the village keeps its rural setting and small hay and vegetable fields. The nomination also points to archaeological potential, including mill sites and a reported Indian burial ground.