FrancoAmerican Gravy: Family History & Stories from Upstate New York, Quebec and Acadia

Stories of family and ancestors who lived and worked in Cohoes (textile and garment workers, butchers and barbers), Waterford (canalers), Whitehall (farmers and canalers), Port Henry (iron miners and Civil War soldiers), Champlain (canalers and farmers) and other towns along the Champlain Canal in New York State with some diversions to the places they emigrated from....Quebec (landless farmers, shoemakers, sailors, soldiers), Acadia (more farmers), and even Cornwall, England (tin miners).

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Harmony Mills

Harmony Mill #3 in Cohoes, NY has been rescued. You can now rent a luxury apartment at The Lofts at Harmony Mills and sleep comfortably inside the once cavernous mill where several of my ancestors worked as child laborers. Actually the #3 is just one of the many mills in the complex and I have no idea who worked in which building and when. The first mill, built by Peter Harmony, was constructed in 1837. When I last viewed it, there were no signs of activity in that building. The #2 mill, at the northern end of #3, was built in 1857 and has been demolished. Some structures in the complex are believed to have actually been built over the original Erie Canal using canal stone in the foundation work. This was possible because as the Erie canal was enlarged, its path was redesigned and relocated, and even put to other uses for power generation along the mill.

Below is a view of the eastern facade of #3 with the Mohawk River in the foreground. I will never cease to be amazed at the shear size of this mill. According to the Self Guided Tour of the Harmony Historic District published by The Spindle City Historic Society, the #3 mill was built in 1866 with an addition in 1872 making it the largest "complete" cotton mill in the nation.