Historic Shawsheen Village in Andover MA

The first mills in the Andover area were built to grind corn and saw wood. In 1775, a powder mill was established to provide gunpowder forthe Continental Army. Textile mills prospered in Andover from the late 1780s to the middle of this century. By 1835, Andover had sixdistinct mill districts: Sutton Mills and Stevens Mills on the Cochichewick River; and Ballardvale, Abbot Village, Marland Mills and Frye Village on the Shawsheen River.

In 1919, the American Wool Company announced plans to build a million dollar mill in the already-existing mill community of Frye Village and rename the region “Shawsheen.”  At the intersection of North Main, Lowell, Haverhill and Poor Streets, near the Shawsheen River and his home, Arden William Wood, president of the American Woolen Company, carefully planned Shawsheen Village, a model community of manufacturing, residential, commercial and recreational facilities.

The village was completely rebuilt as a “model industrial community” and became the site of the company’s headquarters. The mill began operating in 1922 and within two years the village contained more than 200 houses, several community buildings. The employees rented their homes from the company, the brick structures were reserved for upper management and the wooden buildings for those of lesser position.