Joe Fuoco - Rhode Islands Mill Villages: Simmonsville, Pocasset, Olneyville, and Thornton

Victoria Mills and its water tower. This was the mecca for so many hundreds settling in what was called Simmons Lower Village, later Thornton.

The way it looked then. The mills were already built, and the village called Thornton was growing along Main Street. Later it would shape itself about a hub at an intersection bisected by Atwood and Plainfield Streets.

An event recorded. This is the removal of the smoke stack of the Fitch Manufacturing Company on November 9, 1907. This small mill was one of many nestled in the shadow of the great mills close to the Pocasset River. (Photograph courtesy of Viola La Chapelle.)

The Pocasset Worsted Company Mill. Named after the Pocasset tribe (which had long since vanished), this mill employed 1,000 villagers at its height, during the years of two major wars. It created a fine yarn sold to other companies for weaving and knitting, and was the first company in Rhode Island to offer prizes in garden contests to the people of the mill cottages.

The Casino. Built by the owners of the Pocasset Worsted Mill, this building was used for recreation of all kinds, including bowling, pool, minstrel shows, banquets, etc. It was totally destroyed by fire in 1944.

The British Hosiery Mill, later the Priscilla Worsted Mill. One of the earliest of the large mills in the village, British Hosiery goes back to 1884. It was built in a village within a village, comically called Frog City, which remains famed to this day, having kept that name.

The row houses of the mill workers on John Street near Frog City. Once completely identical, this more contemporary photograph shows what owners have done to individualize them. These were the company houses built by mill owners for their employees. Coal and electricity were supplied by the owners. These houses were built for the workers of the Victoria Mills. Below them were other row houses, most of them gone, for the workers of Priscilla Mill.

A street procession of over fifty years ago. The Paper Box mill, as it was called, is in the distance. Sitting close to the Pocasset River that supplied its power, this small mill served the town well until it perished in a great fire several years ago. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

The Paper Box mill from another angle. A three-story brick and stucco building, it was the smallest mill in several villages. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

A horse-drawn trolley in the village. Electric trolleys came later, and the tracks remained for decades before being uprooted. This very old photograph shows an open car (in that it was open in the front and back). (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

Two guys on lunch break outside of Priscilla Mill in the early 1940s. My father was a mill hand in those days; that is Joe Sr. on the left. (Photograph courtesy of Joe Fuoco.)

The Pocasset Mill. Hundreds worked here during the war spinning yarn. The water tank stands to this day. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

The Victoria Mill. Sprawling, the largest of the mills, this 1910s view shows the mill houses arranged close to the mill. These houses still stand and are occupied. The dirt road is John Street; the village within a village is Frog City. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

Plainfield Street at Atwood Avenue and Mill Street. This photograph may have been taken during a Fourth of July or the celebration of Armistice; notice the flags in the windows of the large building. These houses are still standing. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)

A scene from 1912. This muddy road with horse and buggy tracks is Plainfield Street at its junction with Atwood Avenue. Many of the buildings made it to the 1960s and a little beyond; some remain standing. (Photograph courtesy of Mario Votolato.)