43-583: The Salmon Falls Mill Historic District encompasses a historic mill complex on Front Street in Rollinsford, New Hampshire . The complex includes four major structures and seven smaller ones, on about 14 acres (5.7 ha) of land along the Salmon Falls River . They were built between about 1840 and the mid-1860s, and have an unusual architectural unity, for additions made to the buildings were done with attention to matching design elements from
86-496: A a series of land grants to expand the borders of New Hampshire. These included 131 towns, many of which were in territory contested with New York , which disputed Wentworth's grants and appealed to the Board of Trade and Plantations . The board eventually issued a ruling on July 26, 1764, in favor of New York. As a result, all settlers in the region had to live under New York's jurisdiction, which many of them resented. Eventually,
129-557: A "shrewd, compromising, and accommodating politician". Wentworth primarily concerned himself in office with issuing land grants, placating potential rivals by issuing them with justice of the peace and military commissions, and appeasing the timber industry by turning a blind eye to the controversial white pine laws , allowing merchants free access to the New Hampshire forests in order to cut down white pine trees so long as they kept supplying masts to his brother Mark, who sold them to
172-530: A clerical error. Since the first settlers' arrival, small communities had developed near various sawmills and gristmills along the Salmon Falls River, but the center of "Summersworth" was located at Rollinsford Junction. Beginning in the early 1820s, water powered textile mills were established at the larger falls, and the town was divided between them—Great Falls became Somersworth , and Salmon Falls became Rollinsford, incorporated in 1849. It
215-473: A group of settlers from New Hampshire declared independence in 1777 as the State of Vermont . The controversy surrounding the land grants and Thomlinson's failing health led Wentworth to quietly step down as governor on July 30, 1766. His nephew John , who had prevented Wentworth from being dismissed in disgrace due to his political relationship with Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham , assumed
258-606: A merchant, plying the colonial trade with the West Indies and Spain in timber , wine and brandy for about a decade. After his father died in December 1730, Wentworth, who had not acquired any property in Boston, returned to Portsmouth to assume control over his inheritance, including 2,000 pounds , extensive real estate, and the family trade in ship masts and timber. In the same year, Wentworth also took his place as
301-426: A new mill (the present Number 2 building), and introduced new technology perfected at Lowell, Massachusetts including the turbine. A fire in 1864 destroyed the original Number 1 mill. The Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company ended production in 1927, and the buildings have since seen other industrial uses. The historic district consists of eleven buildings and structures, most of which are set between Front Street and
344-467: A plan where in exchange for 300 pound sterling , Wentworth would be appointed as the governor of New Hampshire ; in return, he would drop his ongoing claim against the British government. Wentworth's supporters in New Hampshire quickly raised the sum for him, and on December 12, 1741, Wentworth officially succeeded Belcher as the governor. During his tenure as governor, Wentworth proved himself to be
387-510: A prominent local family, Wentworth was groomed by his father John while growing up to assume control over the family businesses. However, Wentworth's misbehavior while studying at Harvard College led him to be sent by his father to Boston instead in 1715. There, Wentworth was apprenticed to his uncle before working as a merchant. In 1730, he returned to Portsmouth to assume control over his father's estate. After Wentworth returned to New Hampshire, he became involved in politics, sitting on both
430-427: A relative of Wentworth. Wentworth parlayed his mercantile and political career to acquire a small fortune, which included 10,000 guineas and several real estate properties. His involvement in issuing land grants led to several settlements to be directly and indirectly named after him; the town of Bennington, Vermont , was named in his honor. After a famous Revolutionary War battle occurred near Bennington in 1771,
473-604: Is a town in Strafford County , New Hampshire , United States. The population was 2,597 at the 2020 census . The main village in town was once known as "Salmon Falls Village". The area was once within the domain of the Newichawannock people , an Abenaki sub-tribe which took its name from the Newichawannock River, meaning "river with many falls", now the Salmon Falls River . Their village
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#1732794571601516-586: The Boston & Maine Railroad line led to the establishment of numerous bars and a relatively short-lived but racy reputation for free-flowing liquor. The New England cotton industry would fade in the early to mid-20th century, but would leave the brick town intact. Today, the mills have been reborn as low-cost studio space for more than 100 artists and artisans who use the converted studios for everything from painting, sculpting and crafting handmade furniture to teaching and practicing yoga and dance. According to
559-604: The Cochecho River in neighboring Dover . The entire town is part of the Piscataqua River watershed. The highest point in town is an unnamed 300-foot (91 m) summit near the border with Somersworth. Garrison Hill , 290 feet (88 m) above sea level , occupies the town's border with Dover to the west. New Hampshire Route 4 crosses the town, leading southwest to Dover and northeast to South Berwick, Maine , where it becomes Maine State Route 4 . As of
602-595: The House of Representatives and the governor's council in the 1730s. There, he allied with Theodore Atkinson against political rivals Jonathan Belcher and Richard Waldron . In 1733, Spanish officials refused to pay Wentworth for a timber shipment, leaving him in debt. Negotiations in London to resolve this led to Wentworth being appointed governor in 1741. Wentworth used his position as governor to entrench his family's economic and political dominance in New Hampshire. In
645-574: The United States Census Bureau , Rollinsford has a total area of 7.6 square miles (19.6 km ), of which 7.3 square miles (18.9 km ) are land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km ) are water, comprising 3.71% of the town. The town is bounded on the east by the Salmon Falls River , which serves as the New Hampshire– Maine border. The western half of the town is drained by Rollins and Twombly brooks, which flow south to
688-493: The census of 2000, there were 2,648 people, 1,033 households, and 721 families residing in the town. The population density was 363.0 inhabitants per square mile (140.2/km ). There were 1,060 housing units at an average density of 145.3 per square mile (56.1/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 97.77% White , 0.68% African American , 0.08% Native American , 0.53% Asian , 0.08% from other races , and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.60% of
731-548: The 1760's, a dispute with the colonial government in neighboring New York ultimately led to an end to Wentworth's land grants, and he eventually stepped down as governor in 1766. Wentworth soon retired to his house in Portsmouth, where he died four years later. The town of Bennington, Vermont was named in his honor. Benning Wentworth was born on July 24, 1696, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire . His father, John Wentworth ,
774-810: The British Royal Navy . In the mid-1730s, most of Wentworth's family members converted to Anglicanism , joining the Church of England . Wentworth joined them in the early-1740's and supported the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel , a missionary arm of the Church, by issuing them several land grants on the North American frontier . During this period, Wentworth ensured his dominance in
817-480: The New Hampshire political scene by filling government positions with his relatives to ensure they dominated the profitable mast trade, a stranglehold which lasted until the American Revolutionary War . From 1748 to 1752, Wentworth sparked a constitutional crisis by extending representation to newly-established colonial settlements which he knew politically supported him. Wentworth also vetoed
860-561: The Salmon Falls River was first dammed and a sawmill built. In 1822 the water privilege was purchased by a Portsmouth merchant, who established a successful woolen mill. It burned in 1834, but was soon replaced by a cotton mill. That mill was eventually purchased by a partnership including Amos Lawrence , a major Boston, Massachusetts textile industrialist. Eventually incorporated as the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company, Lawrence and his associates built
903-403: The average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males. The median income for a household in the town
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#1732794571601946-539: The daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant. The couple had three sons, all of whom died before Wentworth. After Abigail died in 1755, Wentworth remarried on March 15, 1760, to his 23-year old housekeeper, Martha Hilton. He had several children with Martha, though all of them were stillborn. Angered that his family had shunned him over marrying someone who was socially beneath him, Wentworth gave his estate in its entirety to Martha in his last will and testament , leaving them nothing. Martha remarried after his death to Michael,
989-490: The existing structures. The Number 2 Mill, built in 1848, was an early location where a turbine was used instead of a waterwheel to provide power to the mill machinery. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The area that is now Rollinsford was settled in the 1620s, and the site of the present Salmon Mills complex has a documented history of industrial use since 1623-24, when
1032-449: The family business, though this changed after he graduated from Harvard College in 1715. Due to poor behavior Wentworth exhibited while studying at Harvard, including setting a college record in windows broken and fines paid, his father instead arranged for him to undergo an apprenticeship at his uncle Samuel Wentworth's counting house in Boston , Massachusetts . After the apprenticeship, his father arranged for Wentworth to work as
1075-463: The governorship of New Hampshire the next year in 1767. Wentworth then retired to his personal mansion at Little Harbor, Portsmouth, where he died on October 14, 1770. After his death, Wentworth was buried in the cemetery of Queen's Chapel . During his political career, Wentworth gained a "reputation of being haughty and arrogant yet shrewd and tenacious", and was pejoratively nicknamed " Don Granada" and " Don Diego" by his political opponents. He
1118-418: The head of a powerful and politically connected New Hampshire family who were opponents of colonial administrator Jonathan Belcher and his political ally Richard Waldron . Prior to this occurring, Belcher and Waldron had ousted his family from positions of political authority, which led Wentworth to conspire with fellow politician Theodore Atkinson to remove the two from power. In August 1732, Wentworth
1161-431: The house's decision to nominate Waldron as speaker of the house , taking these steps because his political opponents had by now gained a majority in the house. The house objected, which led to a political impasse as both sides refused to concede. Wentworth eventually received instructions from Crown officials supporting his position, which led to the standoff being resolved in his favor. Beginning in 1749, Wentworth issued
1204-548: The pair sought to unite New Hampshire with Massachusetts (Wentworth wanted the two colonies to be completely separate politically). After British settlers established the Province of Georgia in 1732, Anglo-Spanish relations quickly deteriorated, and in 1733 the Spanish government refused to pay Wentworth for a shipment of timber worth 11,000 pounds. This refusal put Wentworth at the mercy of his creditors in Boston, and he
1247-407: The population. There were 1,033 households, out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.2% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and
1290-411: The power of the Salmon Falls River, a Piscataqua River tributary. After an 1834 fire destroyed the first factory built there, the company's Portsmouth-based investors built a new factory for cotton manufacturing, eventually selling the corporation to their Boston -based cotton broker Mason and Lawrence in the 1840s. As part of their expansion, the town was laid out in an easy-to-navigate grid plan, with
1333-473: The river. The concrete dam spanning the river, built as a replacement of a wooden dam around 1910, is included in the district, as is the railroad bridge just downstream. One building, a cotton warehouse, is located across Front Street. The buildings exhibit a remarkable unity of style despite a construction history spanning more than 50 years, with most buildings built of brick in an industrial Italianate style. Rollinsford, New Hampshire Rollinsford
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1376-412: The same year; settled near here and married Annah Jaxson of Lanark , Scotland. Killed by Indians on September 28, 1691." In 1729 the area was established as a parish called "Summersworth", meaning summer town, because the ministers preached here during the summer. In 1754, it was set off and incorporated as a town by colonial governor Benning Wentworth , although thereafter spelled "Somersworth" due to
1419-535: The three-story boarding houses and an adjoining mill building made of brick to withstand fires. Two-story brick double houses were also built to accommodate the families of the overseers. The town thrived into the first decades of the 20th century and eventually became home to many immigrant families whose forebears came to work in the mills. Although the town planners originally forbade the mill workers to drink alcohol and required that they attend church on Sunday, during Prohibition , its proximity to temperate Maine and
1462-411: Was $ 48,588, and the median income for a family was $ 60,625. Males had a median income of $ 37,750 versus $ 26,068 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 24,444. About 2.6% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over. Benning Wentworth Benning Wentworth (July 24, 1696 – October 14, 1770)
1505-461: Was a ship's captain, businessman and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant-governor of colonial New Hampshire from 1717 until 1730 after spending two years serving on merchant ships . Wentworth's mother, Sarah Hunking Wentworth, was the daughter of Captain Mark Hunking, a wealthy resident of Portsmouth. Growing up, Wentworth was initially groomed by his father to take over
1548-516: Was an American merchant, landowner and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. He is best known for issuing several land grants in territories claimed by the Province of New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River while serving as governor, which led to disputes with the neighboring Province of New York and the eventual establishment of Vermont . Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire into
1591-592: Was described by American historian David E. Van Deventer as being "able to [both] maintain a family dynasty and Portsmouth's control of the prosperous mast trade for a generation" who was "perhaps even British America 's first political machine." Wentworth was the eldest child in a family which consisted of eight brothers and five sisters, all of them sharing the same parents. Many of his family followed Wentworth into political careers, while others married his associates; Wentworth's sister Hannah married Theodore Atkinson. On December 13, 1719, Wentworth married Abigail Ruck,
1634-540: Was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives . He subsequently used the influence of political ally David Dunbar , then serving as the lieutenant-governor of the colony, to become appointed to the governor's council in 1734. While he was sitting on the House of Representatives and the governor's council, Wentworth worked with several allies to undermine Belcher and Waldron's political influence, as
1677-581: Was first called "Sligo", likely after County Sligo in Ireland , and the name survives on a town road. An historical marker on Sligo Road reads, "Near this place lived David Hamilton of Westburn born in the parish of Cambuslang , Scotland in October 1620; captured by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester , England, September 3, 1651; Brought to America as a prisoner in chains on the "John and Sarah" in
1720-592: Was forced to borrow heavily from British merchants in London , in particular associate John Thomlinson, to pay them off. Wentworth lodged a claim against the British government , claiming that they needed to repay him for the Spanish state's refusal to pay for the timber shipment. In 1738, Wentworth travelled to London to negotiate a deal with his British contacts, including both merchants and government officials, as he
1763-441: Was located at what later was known as Salmon Falls Village and is now Rollinsford. They fished at the falls, stretching nets across the river to catch migrating salmon and other species swimming upriver to spawn . But war and disease, probably smallpox brought from abroad, decimated the native population. Subsequently, settled by about 1630, the land was part of Dover , one of the original townships of New Hampshire. The area
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1806-456: Was named in honor of the Rollins family, whose ancestor Judge Ichabod Rollins had settled there many generations before and had become the first probate judge for the state. The village of Salmon Falls was founded in 1823 by a group of local investors led by James Rundlet of Portsmouth , who on June 17, 1822, incorporated the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company to manufacture woolen cloth using
1849-629: Was on the verge of bankruptcy. While he was in London, a commission was established to determine the boundary lines between the provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, which were then disputed by both colonies. Under the influence of Atkinson, who sat on the commission, its members eventually decided to issue a ruling in support of New Hampshire's boundary claims, doubling the size of the nascent colony. Meanwhile, Wentworth continued to negotiate with his contacts in London. Eventually, Thomlinson (who held political influence due to Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle being his patron) formulated
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