Textile Production

This Library of Congress photograph shows the inside of a Lawrence cotton mill. While it was mainly a wool-producing city and Lowell was a cotton mill city, there were cotton and shoe factories in Lawrence. The Everett Mill is the most notable example of a Lawrence cotton mill. This photo shows the shop floor layout in a typical mill. Mill engineers carefully planned the use of space; nearly all free areas are occupied by machinery. The looms dwarf the workers!

In 1900:

•Lawrence produced nearly 25% of all the woolen cloth in the U.S.

•65% of manufacturing output, 67% of all the capital invested, and 66% of expenditures for material were from woolen mills.

•52% of the city’s wages came from the woolen mills.