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The factory at Quinapoxet and the village connected with it, stood on six hundred square acres of land, formerly a part
of the "French Land" which was bought by Damon and Thaxter, in 1827.
In 1831, Samuel Damon, having purchased the interest of his partner, erected a mill for the manufacture of cotton sheeting.
In 1841, this mill contained one thousand, four hundred spindles and forty looms, manufacturing two hundred and fifty thousand
yards of sheeting. Colonel Damon with various partners controlled the mill until his death in 1851.
In 1856, it was sold to A. F. Smith of Grafton. From 1862, it was run for some years by Howe and Myers. It then passed into
the hands of Stowell and Ward, who manufactured satinets. May 27, 1871, their mill was burned with an estimated loss of thirty
thousand dollars. It was at once rebuilt, and was run for a time by Wood and Ward, and in 1876, was purchased by Cyrus G. Wood
who ran it for many years, the business then passing into the hands of his sons J. Frank and Clarence Wood.
In 1910, Horace Wyman became the owner and in 1915, the property was sold by his heirs to E. Schwarz of New York, when
it was run under the firm name of Quinapoxet Manufacturing Company, until it was taken over by the Metropolitan Water
Commission on November 15, 1929.
At that time a person entering the village from the south, passed the school house built in 1881, and destroyed by fire in
1930, and a little farther on, at the right, on an elevation overlooking the village, stood the residence of J. Frank Wood.
On the opposite side of the street, on the north westerly corner of Mill and Wachusett Streets, was located the building
housing the general store and the post office.
For some distance on both sides of the street, were attractive, well cared for homes, and then one came again to the
farming district.
The four set mill, a brick structure, was located on Mill Street and on its site a mill had been in almost continuous
operation for ninety-seven years. At that time 105 persons were employed there.
In 1929, the mill property consisted of 143 acres of land in addition to the mill buildings, four four-apartment houses,
six single houses, two two-apartment houses, four bungalows and the store block, the total valuation being $65,100.
Source: Florence Newell Prouty, History of the Town of Holden, Massachusetts,
1667–1941 (Holden, Mass.: 200th Anniversary Committee for the Town of Holden, 1941), 162–163.
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