Shove Mills - Fall River, Massachusetts 1901

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Shove Mills Company issued in 1901. This historic document was printed by George E. Bamford, Fall River and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of Charles O. Shove. This item is hand signed by the Company's President and Secretary and is over 104 years old.






Certificate Vignette

Shove Mills (three mills) were organized in 1872 wth a capital of $550,000 named in honor of Charles O . Shove who was its president, John P. Slade became treasurer . The mill was not constructed until 1874 and in 1881 it erected a yarn mill of 21,088 spindles, which was in Rhode lsland just over the state line. The plant was closed in 1932 .

Fall River Massachusetts, 1890

FALL RIVER, a beautiful manufacturing city and port of entry in the southwest side of Bristol County, lies on the easterly shore of Mount Hope Bay and Taunton River. Freetown bounds it on the north and east; Dartmouth on the southeast; Westport, together with Pocasset in Rhode Island, on the south; and on the west are Mount Hope Bay and the town of Somerset, on the right bank of the Taunton River. Its assessed area is 18,272 acres, and which includes 2,607 acres of woodland. The city proper is 49 miles south of Boston, 183 miles northeast of New York, 17 miles south of Taunton, 18 miles southeast of Providence, 14 miles west of New Bedford, and 18 miles north of New port. Along the whole extent of the water front run the tracks of the Old Colony Railroad, affording the best facilities for the transfer of freight and passengers between the cars and the numerous steamers that run to New York, Philadelphia and Providence. The Old Colony steamboats running daily between this city and New York are among the finest in the world for size, safety, and luxuriance of equipment. Trains also run direct to Providence by the railroad bridge over the Taunton River at the upper part of the town; while a branch from the New Bedford line of the Old Colony road enters the city at the greater elevation on the east.

The mills are distributed somewhat in groups; on the Quequechan above the dam, following nearly to its head along its east side, are the Wamsutta, three Union, three Durfee, two Granite, the Crescent, Merchants, Barnard, Wampanoag, Stafford, Flint, Seaconnet and Merino mills. The last six, with their tenements, form a community by themselves, known as Flint Village. On the west bank of the stream, above the dam, are the Tecumseh No.1, Robeson, Davol, Richard Borden, Tecumseh No.2, Chace and Barnaby mills. Some two miles north of the stream, and along the bank of the Taunton River at Bowenville, are the Mechanics, Weetamo, Narragansett, Sagamore, and the two Border City mills. Above is the village of Steep Brook, which has a post-office. Two miles south of the stream, and on the highlands overlooking the bay, are the Slade, Montaup, Laurel Lake, Osborn, King Philip, and Shove mills, - all taking water from Laurel Lake, which is about one mile in length. Beyond them, across the State line, in Tiverton, are the Bourne and one of the Shove mills.