Decline American Printing Company (Fall River Iron Works)

apc warehouses, anawan street, fall river

the cotton mills of fall river had built business largely on 1 product: print cloth. 1910, city s largest employer, american printing company (apc) employed 6,000 people, , largest printer of cotton cloth in world. dozens of other city mills solely produced print cloth printed @ apc. city s industry had eggs in one, large basket.

by 1910 or so, northern mills faced serious competition southern counterparts due factors such lower labor , transportation costs, south s large investment in new machinery , other equipment. many northern mills added additional capacity, in futile attempt maintain advantage on south.

world war had provided needed boost in demand textiles, , of mills in new england benefited during time. post-war economy slowed , production outpaced demand. price print cloth dropped sharply. in 1923, fall river faced first wave of mill closures.

in 1924, following example of other large northern mills, american printing company built new plant @ kingsport, tennessee, , began moving of production there. thousands of fall river jobs lost.

the once mighty american printing company closed fall river mills in 1934. in 1937, huge factory complex on water street acquired firestone tire & rubber company, , employed 2,600 people. on october 11–12, 1941, 8 weeks before attack on pearl harbor, huge fire broke out in old 1860 s mill of print works. fire major setback u.s. war effort, jesse h. jones, secretary of commerce, reported 15,850 tons (31,700,000 pounds (14,400,000 kg)) of rubber lost in blaze, valued @ approximately $7,000,000.

in march 1973, huge fire destroyed former iron works division mills. these mills set occupied providence pile company. however, sprinklers had been turned off during winter because there no heat in buildings.

today, site occupied borden & remington chemical company(a company roots in 19th century textile industry). several of late 19th century buildings still remain.

in october 2008, borden & remington began demolition of mill no. 3, had been vacant , deemed in poor condition. mill no. 1 demolished in may 2011. of old growth longleaf pine timbers used construct buildings salvaged during demolition , have been recycled new flooring , millwork products.