Maine Memory Network

Advertisement for Lady Pepperell sheets, Biddeford, ca. 1926

Contributed by: Biddeford Mills Museum Date: circa 1926 Location: Biddeford Media: Ink on paper

Letter to the stockholders of Pepperell Manufacturing Co. and Laconia Co., 1899

Contributed by: Biddeford Mills Museum Date: 1899-05-01 Location: Biddeford Media: text on paper

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Making Paper, Making Maine

Paper has shaped Maine's economy, molded individual and community identities, and impacted the environment throughout Maine. When Hugh Chisholm opened the Otis Falls Pulp Company in Jay in 1888, the mill was one of the most modern paper-making facilities in the country, and was connected to national and global markets. For the next century, Maine was an international leader in the manufacture of pulp and paper.

Biddeford, Saco and the Textile Industry

The largest textile factory in the country reached seven stories up on the banks of the Saco River in 1825, ushering in more than a century of making cloth in Biddeford and Saco. Along with the industry came larger populations and commercial, retail, social, and cultural growth.

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - The Civil War/Reconstruction Era as Experienced in Biddeford & Saco - Page 5 of 17

"Once these two mills were established this mill district came to be one of the largest cotton milling facilities in the country. Even when cotton…"

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - The Civil War/Reconstruction Era as Experienced in Biddeford & Saco - Page 7 of 17

"They were later bought by Pepperell Manufacturing Company by 1900 and became Laconia Division of the Pepperell Mills."

My career working at Pepperell Mills in the Vellux Division
by David Bishop

My 35 years working in the Vellux blanket division of Pepperell Mills, Biddeford.

Everything we did was new and exciting in the Vellux division
by Maurice Paquette

If you applied yourself you could do anything at Pepperell Mills.