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Mills and Changing Cities

Laconia Mills boarding houses, Biddeford, ca. 1895

Laconia Mills boarding houses, Biddeford, ca. 1895

Item 29280 info
McArthur Public Library

The first textile workers were primarily New England farm girls.

They traveled into the heart of Biddeford and Saco to work and lived in company boarding houses.

Some girls sent money home to their families but most spent their earnings on scarves, bonnets, jewelry and other luxury items.