Pawtucket’s Old Mill Is Getting Another Life—Because Apparently Brick Has Better Job Security Than People
I have always believed that old buildings remember things. They remember the mornings when workers arrived before the sun had properly introduced itself. They remember the machinery roaring to life, the floors trembling beneath iron equipment and the air filling with heat, dust, oil and the unmistakable aroma of people earning every cent of an inadequate paycheck. They remember lunch pails, aching backs, hurried conversations and the glorious invention known as the factory whistle—the original notification you could not mute. That is what I think about when I look at a historic mill in Pawtucket currently undergoing construction. I do not merely see brick walls, tall windows and architectural features that developers will eventually describe with phrases such as “industrial character” and “timeless charm.” I see the remains of a working world. I see a building that once existed because people made things inside it, back when the economy produced objects instead of subscription plans. N...
