Fisherville Mill, Grafton, MA

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The Fisherville Mill was a 19^th century mill that gave name to the Fisherville section of Grafton. Sitting along the Blackstone River and Fisherville Pond, this rather large mill was opened in 1880. Previous to this, mill the site held a smaller mill that was build in 1831 and had been expanded several times before it had at least partially burned down. [Postcard of first mill on the site.] These mills were owned by W.A. Fisher, and early on owned in partnership with Peter Farnum who also owned the Farnumsville Mill, giving name to a neighboring section of town.

By 1890 the mill employed approximately 400 workers, and in 1911 there were 500 people working there. The mill contained 330,000 square feet of building space located on a 16 acre lot. Between 1882 and 1986, Fisherville Mill was used to manufacture many products, including textiles (cotton spinning and weaving), steel racks, machine parts, stamps, and lawn furniture, as well as warehouse storage. [Machine shop in Fisherville Mill.]

The mill was unused from 1986 to 1999, when a large fire destroyed the building. On August 3, 1999 the mill burned as firefighters from two dozen fire departments battled the blaze. [Fisherville Mill burns down.] Debris from the fire started brush fires up to 2.5 miles away as approximately 12 million gallons of water was poured on the site. [Mill after the 1999 fire.]

Since the 1999 fire, the site has undergone extensive and expensive cleanup efforts to make the site usable again. During this cleanup, several pieces of historical importance of been unearthed from the site, including some large turbines and a stone arch bridge which was buried under the large mill. Old structure foundations were found below the Fisherville Mill, one was eight feet below the surface and another 24 feet below.

With the cleanup mostly complete by 2007, the site will become home to a new mill. This 21^st century mill will be mixed use though, including residential, retail, and restaurant space.