Bristol Industrial Historic District

Bristol's northern edge holds a cluster of nineteenth-century mills that formed the core of the borough's manufacturing economy. The Bristol Improvement Company, a group of local businessmen led in part by Joshua Peirce, built five large mill complexes between 1876 and 1885 to attract manufacturers, and exempted the mills from borough taxation for their first ten years. The walls are largely Delaware River sandstone with red brick used for cornices and window arches. The Grundy Mill Complex includes a seven-story spinning mill and warehouse and a 168-foot clock tower, erected around 1910, which are among the first reinforced concrete industrial buildings in Bucks County. Joseph R. Grundy, later a U.S. Senator, owned the Grundy Mills, which became the largest employer in the county by 1919. The Bristol Carpet Mills produced Wilton rugs. The district is listed for its industrial history and for its architecture.