Old Schwamb Mill: Preservation

he Old Schwamb Mill is structurally sound, but the buildings are old and the machinery needs special sustained care to ensure its continuation as an educational resource.

The Lathes These lathes have been around since 1864. They are the original machinery and have survived because of constant care and tending.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places since October 1971, the Old Schwamb Mill in Arlington, Massachusetts is historically significant both as a 19th century picture frame manufactory which survives intact from the Civil War Era, and as a complex of three buildings (Main Mill Building, Dryhouse, and Lumber Storage Barn) which together utilized water power and steam power more than 100 years ago to convert railroad carloads of walnut, oak, cherry, and other North American and tropical hardwoods into finely crafted natural wood and gilded frames during America's "Gilded Age." The Mill is rare as a vernacular architectural survivor, as well as for a collection of preserved and historically significant workplaces and rooms which have maintained continuous industrial operations since establishment at this location by Charles Schwamb in 1864.

Like other industrial landmarks of its broad, general type (post-and beam framed mill building, formerly water powered, complete with manufactory era machines) the Old Schwamb Mill is one of those buildings which "work much magic" upon visitors who enter-- because the interior is a rich symphony of period industrial rooms, finishes, and mechanics -- concealed within an architectural "shell" which is quiet, plain and understated. The main building stands as a time capsule with remarkable contents, and functions like a Victorian music box by enchanting the visitor with mechanics and sounds once the outer "box" is opened.

Since 1969, the Old Schwamb Mill has been held in trust for the people of the United States and operated by the Schwamb Mill Preservation Trust, a non-profit charitable educational organization which maintains the Mill, Dryhouse and Barn principally for preservation and "living history" museum purposes. Visitors to the Mill are cordially welcomed.

In addition to preserving the mill as a public museum, the Trust rents upstairs spaces in the Mill to architects and engineers engaged in historic preservation and the Barn as a retail showroom facility for Shaker Workshops, an international mailorder catalogue business offering highest quality reproduction furniture and accessories in kits and finished form. Income from rentals is used to provide much-needed funding for operations, outreach, maintenance, and preservation.

When the Old Schwamb Mill was first acquired by the Trust in 1970, the most immediate need was to maintain and repair the weather envelope -- to replace roofs, and to repair windows, wood siding, and brick foundations. The first priority was the replacement of the roofs, and as funds became available over the years, major repairs have now been completed to all of the buildings' roofs. Unfortunately, emergency needs (a new boiler and alterations to accommodate it; new underground gas, electric, and telephone service from Lowell Street; heating repairs; new fire and intrusion alarm system in Main Mill Building; removal of underground oil tank; plus others) and severely limited funds have resulted in limited repairs and maintenance to the windows, the wood siding, and masonry. A grant of $150,000 from the Massachusetts Historical Commission has gone far in mitigating these problems.

- Staley McDermet Associates, Architects
- John Goff, Preservation Architect