Winthrop Mills records

The Winthrop Mills were established in Winthrop, Maine in 1866 by a group of investors from Boston. The Winthrop Mills complex included five buildings, a power canal, and a dam on Maranacook Stream, between the Maranacook and Anabessacook Lakes. In 1913 they acquired the Annabessacook Mill in North Monmouth, Maine and reorganized as a Massachusetts corporation. They liquidated in 1932 and 1933.

The mills specialized in the manufacture of wool and part-wool blankets and grew to become the nation's largest manufacturer of woolen blankets. Cabots (especially F.H. Cabot), Adams's (especially Manley U. Adams), and McElroys were active in the management. The Winthrop Mills Company seems to have had a controlling interest in F.H. Cabot & Co., Inc., which liquidated at the same time. They also had interests in the Fisher Manufacturing Co. of Grafton, Massachusetts. F.H. Cabot & Co. acted as selling agents for Winthrop, Annabessacook, Orr, Gibboney, Susquehanna and other makes of blankets. Competition from makers of cheaper blankets with less wool content was the reason for liquidation.

The assets of the Winthrop Mills Company were purchased by the Wilton Woolen Company in 1938 and continued to operate under the Winthrop Milss name until 1954. The Carleton Woolen Company purchased the mills and operated them unitl closing in 2002. The mill complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.