Middle Mill Historic District

New York Mills, just west of Utica on Sauquoit Creek, grew around cotton manufacturing, and its Middle Mill Historic District preserves the center of that mill town. The district covers about 19 acres and includes the Middle Mill complex, two brick churches, a commercial block, a former mill office and rows of workers' cottages. The oldest part of the mill, built of limestone and completed in 1827, followed the opening of the Erie Canal and was one of the first large textile mills in the state. Its design, with a projecting central tower and octagonal cupola, resembles a Schenectady college building and New England mills. Later brick additions, made in 1852, 1884 and 1904, extended the complex. The Walcott Memorial Presbyterian Church of 1882 is a polychrome brick landmark with a 180-foot bell tower. The simple one-story cottages on Garden and Cottage Streets remain largely intact. The 1827 mill is now empty and deteriorating.