04/28/2026
A friend sent this over--just a fun little blurb about the history of our building! I love being in a space with a story to tell. ❤️
In 1944, the Dover Mill Committee achieved a major milestone in revitalizing the city's abandoned mills. With the Esmond Blanket Company moving into the complex that year, all of the available space in the city-owned mill property was officially leased or sold. This was a significant turnaround for the city, which had purchased the empty Pacific Mills at auction just a few years prior to help save the local economy. Additionally, around this time during World War II, the U.S. Government took over Mill No. 1 and the Picker Building through condemnation proceedings, an action for which the city was anticipating a federal payment of $53,800 at the end of 1944. The city continued to act as a landlord for the other buildings, even operating a central "Mill Heating Plant" that supplied live steam at cost to tenants like Eastern Air Devices, Miller Shoe, and Clarostat. Throughout the 1950s, new industries such as Profile Rubber Company and Sattini Inc. moved into the vacant spaces. But the former mills went into serious decline in the 1960s and through the early 1980s. The turning point came in 1984 when two developers, Tim Pearson and Joseph Sawtelle, purchased the entire complex and formed the Dover Mills Partnership. They undertook a massive restoration project: the exteriors were chemically washed, the interior walls were sandblasted to remove layers of paint and expose the original brick, 895 windows were replaced, and an outdoor courtyard was constructed in front of Mill No. 2. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company became the first major tenant in the refurbished complex, followed by tech and business firms like MBNA, PC Connection, and Business Express. Mill No. 1 was similarly renovated, rebranded as "One Washington Center," and filled with numerous small businesses. Instead of succumbing to the "rust belt" decay that plagued many other New England mill towns, Dover successfully adapted the structures into modern, high-tech facilities. Much has changed again, but today the restored Cocheco Mills and the Washington Street Mills, both owned by Chinburg Properties, serve as architectural anchors and economic success stories in downtown Dover.
