Many great old woolen mills have fallen by the way side all over the world. More so in the last 10-20 years with more and more cheap blankets and woolen products coming from overseas. The one detailed below, Baron Woolen Mills of Brigham City, Utah started in 1869 and closed in 1998. Dormant for over 10 years its last chapter may not be over just yet……..
From 2002:
“For 129 years it was the site of weaving and spinning wool into the warmth of blankets.
It was a weaver of dreams for Bob Sadler, who purchased the property 10 years ago with a goal to combine his business ambition with preserving history.
Now, the Baron Woolen Mills sits idle, with its windows shattered and the equipment silent, and all that is woven from this place is frustration for all who want to save it.
Sadler is forced to consider demolition of the mill, established in 1869 by Lorenzo Snow, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Snow ventured north to form the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association, which was commonly known as the Brigham City Co-Op.
By 1877, the mill had 200 spindles and seven looms and was producing $42,000 worth of wool in 44 weeks.
It would later burn down, be rebuilt, burn again and rise once more to become the employer of the largest direct sales force in the United States in the early 1930s, managing the efforts of some 700 people.
But now, Baron is a quiet, mostly abandoned spot where photographers congregate, coming from as far away as New Zealand to record the stark images of antique equipment that fill the building with smells of lanolin and paraffin wax oil.
Sadler ceased major production in 1998, forced out by the prices of import blankets that can be sold for a few dollars.
He can’t compete with that, even though the 1906 “spider wheel” carder could be up and running at any moment, along with rows and rows of intricate equipment that make this mill the only one of its kind west of the Mississippi — embracing the entire manufacturing process from bags of wool to finished product.”
Friends Of Baron Woolen Mills was formed soon after they closed and a business plan was drafted to bring the old mill back to life but alas they couldn’t get the financing together. Then there were talks about it becoming a museum. However, all the pitfalls, money issues and threats to level the building over the last 10 years may soon be over if Jim Davis, a partner in the mill and Paul Larsen, economic development director for Brigham City, have any say in it. They want to see it roar back to life.
“Sad to say, manufacturing in the United States is gone, and with it, most of the facilities that did it. This is the last vertically-integrated, meaning ‘from sheep to blanket,’ mill in the United States,” said Jim Davis, who is a part owner of the mill.
Click here for more info and a video from 12/08
Photo by Heather B. Armstrong
B & W Photos by Christopher Cline
Other images of the mill click HERE
