The old Dana Warp Mill island facility at the end of Dana Street, left, was built in 1876 by George Warren as a woolen mill. The business failed and Woodbury K. Dana purchased the building in 1879 to expand his Dana Warp Mill, which he founded in 1866 in a small building on Bridge Street. In 1900, Dana purchased from the S.D. Warren Co. a brick building on Bridge Street, erected in 1881 by the Westbrook Manufacturing Co., which went out of business after the flood of 1896. Dana expanded that building several times. The old building became a warehouse, connected to the new mill by a steel bridge over the river. The bridge shown in the foreground connects the island to Dana Street. The Bridge Street Mill is pictured on the right. The island building was later occupied by Yudy’s Tire Co. as a tire warehouse, but was demolished in the 1980s when it became vacant and was considered a fire hazard.
Photos courtesy Mike Sanphy
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