Maurice River Recollections Project
River Reaches
Debra A. Barsotti Research Journalist Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc.
The Maurice River Reaches Project
Bleachery Reach #2 In 1919 a bleachery and a dye house were added to the facilities of Millville Manufacturing Company. Richard D. Wood established the The 1876 Atlas of Cumberland County shows the Millville Manufacturing Company in the "third ward", situated on the east side of the Maurice River. The facility was bordered by the river, Sharp Street on the north and Columbia Avenue on the east. The large complex included several foundries, a steam sawmill, a flourmill, something marked "old mill", two office buildings, a gas works, a cotton mill and the bleachery. On the atlas map, it appears as though channels or canals connected some of these facilities. A railroad line also bisected the complex.
Local resident Everett Turner, who has provided plumbing and heating services in the area for decades, had a stint at the Millville Manufacturing Company. "I worked one time there for 6 months," he said. "I learned my trade from my brother in Vineland, plumbing, heating. He was 21 years older than I was - and, like all families, we feuded." Turner chuckled, remembering his youthful impulses. "Well, I got mad at him one time - and I quit. I went to work in the cotton mill for 6 months - and then I had to go and beg for my job back." Turner said it wasn't the mill work that bothered him, though many accounts indicate that the workday was long and tedious. " I couldn’t stand it in there, being locked up indoors," Turner admitted (some inside photographs of Millville Manufacturing)
The primary manufacturer on site was "Alcan Packaging Pharmaceutical Co.", which was purchased by Amcor Packaging Company in 2010. |
Narratives
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