Griswold's Turners Falls Mill - original 1874 deed CHS # 2657

 Wow !  CHS has the original 1874 deed from Alvah Crocker to Joseph Griswold for a small chunk of land that became the Griswold Cotton Mills in Turners Falls 5 years later.  This map is drawn on the deed. Pretty cool to have a original wax seal next to Joseph Griswold's signature.  This deed was scanned by Nina this week as she was cataloging the "Griswoldville Barn Closet" box we found last fall.

Joseph Griswold's Colrain factories , 2 of them by now, were subject to flooding. The story is told that among the reasons Griswold wanted a new factory in Turners Falls is that a mill there would be less likely to flood, given the higher land.

Below are the signatures of Crocker & Griswold. Alvah Crocker was President of the Turners Falls Company which was developing mostly vacant land into a thriving small city.

 Here is a pic of the mill as it was being built in 1877.

And a photo of the mill in the 1950s:

Older residents of the area will recall the Griswold factory as Railroad Salvage, and before that Rockdale, purveyors of inexpensive merchandise. The building burned in 2017.

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Alvah Crocker, who sold the land to Griswold, was actively involved in building a small city at Turners Falls.   Crocker is famed also as the main force behind the building of the Hoosac Tunnel. which allowed cotton goods from Griswold's mill to easily reach Albany, NY and points west.
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Below is the full 1874 deed, a 2-sided sheet.