The walls of the Old Schwamb Mill are covered with pencil notes, painted memoranda (“First Snow”), newspaper clippings, and traces of the many finishes applied to frames and mouldings over the years. Of these finishes, gesso (or “whiting” as the Schwambs sometimes called it) is unmistakable. Here are some examples: (l-r) Hand prints above gesso … Continue reading The Mill’s Gesso Wheel Finds Its Home

Over a decade ago, Mill researcher Tom Calderwood set out to photograph and identify as much of the Old Schwamb Mill’s contents as he could. Among his many interesting finds was a wooden “door bell” style button in the corner of the glue room. Beside the bell were the words: 1 Bell Call Engineer 2   … Continue reading Call the Engineer: The Mill’s Signal System to the Engine Room

In 1873, the growing town of Arlington planned to build a municipal water delivery system. An earlier private venture to draw water from Spy Pond had not succeeded, so the town decided to take matters into its own hands, this time using the Lexington Great Meadows watershed as the source. There was already a dam … Continue reading I’ll Sue! Mill Owners vs. the Town of Arlington

At the Mill, we often find tools and other objects that we cannot identify. Manufactured tools are easy to look up, but not so jigs and other custom-made objects. Shaker Workshops had used the Mill’s Barn for its showroom for nearly 40 years before ceasing operations there in 2019. In preparing the Barn for a … Continue reading A Mystery Object Identified at the Mill

In 1847, Charles Schwamb arrived in Boston from Germany and began making oval frames. By 1864, he had his own frame factory in what is now the Old Schwamb Mill. In 1904, his grandchildren Clinton and Louis Schwamb took charge of the business, running it as The Clinton W. Schwamb Company, Inc., until Clinton’s son … Continue reading Frame-making in the Schwamb Mill’s Business Years