Fabulous Firsts at
the Charles River Museum of Industry

In 1814 the Boston Manufacturing Company opened the doors of its textile mill on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham - now the site of the Charles River Museum of Industry. The following important events took place here, and are the reasons this complex is a National Historic Landmark and important to the entire nation.

• The FIRST time in the world that spinning and weaving were done in one operation under the same roof.
• The FIRST power loom to be used in the United States.
• The FIRST time in the United States young women were employed as the predominant workforce and paid cash for their labor.
• The FIRST company-sponsored housing provided for employees.
• The FIRST textile mill to be made of brick.
• The Boston Manufacturing Company was the FIRST large successful manufacturing company in the United States. It raised more than $400,000 from investors to develop buildings and machinery. The BMC was the prototype of the modern corporation.
• The FIRST industrial labor strike in the United States was in this mill in 1821. The protesters were women, and the issue was wages.
• The FIRST time silk was woven by machine was in the 1890s in this mill.