ContentsScope and Contents of the Collection
No. 4. View from below Reservoir, showing break in both walls 1874 No. 12. View at Williamsburgh Reservoir 1874 No. 13. View of Geo. Cheney on his horse 1874 No. 42. View showing ruins of Engine, etc., at Skinnerville 1874 No. 57. View at Haydenville: Site of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Brass Shops from above 1874 No. 71. View in Main St., Leeds, wreck of engine house 1874 No. 76. Quigley's house, Leeds, from the west 1874 No. 81. Ruins of Geo. P. Warner's Button Factory, Leeds, from the west 1874 No. 84. Ruins of Stone Bridge, Leeds 1874 No. [88]. View at Leeds: View looking up Leeds St., near Button Shop 1874 No. [95]. View at Leeds: Workmen searching for bodies near Cook's dam 1874 No. 99. View of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Brass Shops, Haydenville before the flood 1874 No. [101]. View at Haydenville: View of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Band Building and Office 1874 No. 105. Cook's Dam and Iron Bridge, Leeds, before the flood 1874 No. [107]. View at Leeds: Leeds from the Hill 1874 Site of Wm. Skinner's Silk Mills, Skinnerville 1874 No. 10. Hayden, Gere and Co's. Brass Foundry 1874 May 16 |
Mill River Flood StereographsFinding AidFinding aid prepared by Dex Haven.2009
Administrative InformationAcquired from unknown source, 1994. Processed by Dex Haven, August 2009. Preferred CitationCite as: Mill River Flood Stereographs (PH 019). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst. The collection is open for research. Return to the Table of Contents Historical NoteSite of Wm. Miller's Silk Mill, SkinnervilleThe Mill River flood of 1874 was one of the great man-made disasters of late nineteenth century western Massachusetts. Early in the century, the combination of high hills and rapid water encouraged the construction of a string of mills up and down the Mill River Valley, with as many as six mill villages rising up to take advantage of the cheap and abundant source of power. Factories for the production of silk and woolen cloth, buttons, brass and iron, and a variety of other products lined the banks of the river, supporting a growing population of workers. By the 1860s, mill owners began to recognize that the natural, seasonal variation in water level in the Mill River could be evened out by damming the river, and in 1864, they began work on constructing a large earthenwork dam just above the town of Williamsburgh. Weighing the cost of the project, however, they decided to economize by designing and building the dam themselves, and cutting further corners and cost during the actual construction. Despite complaints from the surveyor and workers that these measures were potentially compromising to public safety, work continued, and even the presence of leaks when the dam was first filled in 1866 did little to slow the project. Following heavy rains on May 16, 1874, disaster struck. When the dam collapsed, 600,000,000 gallons were sent coursing downstream in a wall of water nearly 40 feet high in places. Despite efforts to warn the residents downstream, few heard the warning, and fewer still heeded it. When the waters finally subsided, 139 bodies were strewn in its wake, with nearly total devastation of the factories and homes, bridges and roads. In following days and weeks, the state government, for one of the few times in its history, stepped in to lend $120,000 assistance to rebuild the infrastructure, and despite a coroner's inquest that laid clear culpability for the disaster on the shoulders of the mill owners and engineers, no one was ever brought to account. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe nineteen images in the Mill River Flood collection are a small sampling of a series of 110 stereographs taken by the Knowlton Brothers of Northampton to document the devastation caused by the flood of May 1874. The collection also includes one view taken by F. J. Moore of Westfield, who issued his own series of 21 stereographs, and one by an unidentified photographer. Return to the Table of Contents Search TermsReturn to the Table of Contents No. 4. View from below Reservoir, showing break in both walls 1874 1 stereographNo. 12. View at Williamsburgh Reservoir 1874 1 stereographNo. 13. View of Geo. Cheney on his horse 1874 1 stereographNo. 42. View showing ruins of Engine, etc., at Skinnerville 1874 1 stereographNo. 57. View at Haydenville: Site of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Brass Shops from above 1874 1 stereographNo. 71. View in Main St., Leeds, wreck of engine house 1874 1 stereographNo. 76. Quigley's house, Leeds, from the west 1874 1 stereographNo. 81. Ruins of Geo. P. Warner's Button Factory, Leeds, from the west 1874 1 stereographNo. 84. Ruins of Stone Bridge, Leeds 1874 1 stereographNo. [88]. View at Leeds: View looking up Leeds St., near Button Shop 1874 1 stereographNo. [95]. View at Leeds: Workmen searching for bodies near Cook's dam 1874 1 stereographNo. 99. View of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Brass Shops, Haydenville before the flood 1874 1 stereographNo. [101]. View at Haydenville: View of Hayden, Gere and Co.'s Band Building and Office 1874 1 stereographNo. 105. Cook's Dam and Iron Bridge, Leeds, before the flood 1874 1 stereographNo. [107]. View at Leeds: Leeds from the Hill 1874 1 stereographSite of Wm. Skinner's Silk Mills, Skinnerville 1874 1 stereographView in Leeds Street 1874 1 stereographNo. 10. Hayden, Gere and Co's. Brass Foundry 1874 May 16 1 stereographCove at Williamsburgh were 20 bodies were found 1874 1 stereographReturn to the Table of Contents |
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