National Register of Historic Places
A.H. Rice Silk Mill
Listed federally as Rice, A.H., Silk Mill
Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
The record
- Listed
- March 2, 2015
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 55 Spring St., Pittsfield
- County
- Berkshire
- State
- Massachusetts
- Contributing resources
- 6 buildings
- Coordinates
- 42.45654, -73.24251
- Reference number
- 15000047
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDigital Commonwealth, Boston Public LibraryDigital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The A.H. Rice Silk Mill is a former industrial complex at 55 Spring St. in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, listed in the National Register in 2015. Its brick mill building was built in 1874 by George W. Burbank, and later buildings added Italianate and Classical Revival detailing.
Why it's listed
It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in industry and architecture from 1874 to 1964, reflecting its 1874 construction.
Physical character
The mill buildings are brick on granite foundations, with low, almost flat roofs, built as slow-burning masonry mill construction. Dodge and Devanny added an engine room in 1902, a brick third story was added in 1945, and in 2012 the complex was rehabilitated into apartments with new entries and aluminum windows.
Historical context
In 1876 William B. Rice loaned S. K. Smith $5,000 to start Smith and Rice; by 1884 A. H. Rice & Company was its successor and bought the mill complex in 1886. The company made an insulation product for Admiral Richard E. Byrd's second Antarctic expedition in 1933 and wove a cable for the Skylab program in 1973. The Pittsfield mill closed permanently in 2006, and the complex reopened in 2012 as rental apartments.