Cotton Hollow Mill
The remains of an old cotton mill built in 1814 harken back to when Glastonbury was a key manufacturing center in Connecticut.
The waters of the Roaring Brook in South Glastonbury tumble from the town of Bolton, falling through flatlands, ravines and valleys to reach the Connecticut River. Since the 1600’s, settlers and businessmen have harnessed the power of the Roaring Brook to power grist mills to grind flour and corn, a gunpowder mill to assist the Revolutionary War efforts, saw mills to create lumber for ships, homes and barrels, anchor forges to create two-ton anchors to hold the ships in place, mills to process cotton and in the 1920’s, paper. More than 200 years ago, Glastonbury resident Pardon Brown built a 60 foot high dam across the Roaring Brook and then constructed a five story mill downstream. He opened the Hartford Manufacturing Company which made cotton sheeting and brought in workers and their families to live near the mill.
A few years later a second cotton mill was built across the brook and the area became known as Cotton Hollow. Soon there were 350 people working at the mills and living housing provided down in the Hollow.
A fire ravaged the cotton mill in the 1920s and brought an end to the industry along Roaring Brook. The remains have sat untouched since that time, until now when they are under threat of demolition.
A sight that will never be forgotten by those who lay eyes on it.
The mill ruins have captivated generations and as stewards of history we have a duty to act.