The Mayall Mills, 1791-1902
Beginning a mill in 1791 along Collyer Brook in what is now
Gray, Maine, Samuel Mayall's operation became the first successful
water-powered woolen mill in North America. Establishing the
mills in Gray was not easy. Woolen interests in England had
prohibited the production of goods in the colonies and worked
diligently to prevent British wool-making technology from
being put to use in competition with them. Realizing this,
Mayall smuggled plans for his machinery out of England hidden
in bales of cloth meant for trade with Indians. When British
woolen guilds learned of his deception, they tried at least
twice to kill him. Once they sent him a hat in which they
had hidden pins laced with poison and another time a box with
loaded pistols rigged to fire when the box was opened. Suspicious
of both packages, Mayall managed to avoid the untimely death
his enemies had planned for him.
In time, the original single wooden structure grew into a
sprawling mill complex, featuring two large buildings known
as the Lower Mill and the Upper
Mill, each powered by the water
of Collyer Brook.
|
