In 1924, the Schwambs faced a problem. Their business had rebounded under the management of Clinton and Louis Schwamb, but they needed more power to increase production. Having ceased use of the Mill’s water turbine ten or more years earlier, they had two choices: increase pressures on the boiler that drove their steam engine or … Continue reading A Visit to the Mill’s Boilers

Fire has always been a danger to life and property, and nineteenth-century mill owners understood the risk it presented. This included woodworkers like the Schwamb brothers whose fortunes were tied to wooden buildings filled with dry lumber and machines that created sawdust, shavings, sparks, and the potential for ruin. No Smoking signs on display at … Continue reading The Schwambs and the Danger of Fire

Readers of “Schwamb Shares” know that the Mill’s accident reports – 78 copies of reports to the Mill’s insurer between 1915 and 1930 – hold a wealth of information about the Mill, its operations, its workers, and the injuries that occurred at work. The majority of forms name the physician who examined the employee, sometimes … Continue reading See The Doctor – Local Physicians Who Treated Cases from the Mill

Visitors to the Old Schwamb Mill will occasionally bring an oval frame, often a family heirloom, asking if we can identify its age or place of manufacture. Some of the owners wonder if their frame might have been made at this very nineteenth-century frame factory. It is usually impossible to answer this question for older … Continue reading A New Hampshire Frame Tells Its Story

In much of New England, it was a foggy Christmas in 2023. For the shovellers and working parents, it may come as a relief that Arlington has not yet seen its real first snow storm of the season. It is true that Central Massachusetts saw some flurries on November 1, and the South Shore received … Continue reading First Snow! Weather Graffiti at the Mill