Willimantic Linen Company, Mill No. 2 (1864)

The second major building constructed by the Willimantic Linen Company was Mill No. 2, completed in 1864. The company, founded by Austin Dunham (1805-1877) and Lawson Ives (1804-1867) in 1854, had erected its first mill building in 1857. Like that earlier structure, Mill No. 2 was constructed of gneiss by builder Nathaniel Olin. He had already built a dam for the new mill the previous year. Anticipating the effects of the coming Civil War, Dunham and Ives had started stockpiling raw cotton in the 1850s and were later able to use the proceeds from the sale of cotton thread during the war to erect Mill No. 2, as well as worker housing. In 1872, dormer windows were added to the mill to urn the attic into a usable workspace. These windows were removed after they were damaged in the Hurricane of 1938. More buildings would be added to the mill complex over the years, with several structures being connected to Mill No. 2: the Dye House on the west and the Wheel House and Machine Shop on the south were built in 1864. The Store House & Inspection Building was built on the east side in 1872. The Bleachery (later also called the Dye House) was attached on the west side of the 1864 Dye House in 1883. The result was an extended façade of connected mill buildings that extends over 700 feet. In 1898 the mills were taken over by the American Thread Company. Mill operations ceased in 1895. The complex, located at 322 Main Street in Willimantic, has been redeveloped as the Windham Mills Business Center.