Touring the Plymouth Cordage mills, May 2004
— photos by Doris M. Johnson ... 2nd page
In the power plant attached to Mill #2, three huge boilers, originally fired by coal conveyed through the slanted metal chutes in upper center of photo at left, were later converted to oil.
At right: straight and curved lines on the floor are tracks used by a small compressed-air-powered railroad carrying fire-brick, etc.
Mill #2's amethyst windowglass softened the glare of the natural light so important to the twine-makers in this building. Thick wooden posts, heavy joists closely spaced, thick planking floors and wide enclosed staircases at each end of the building were indications that the Cordage Co., in this 1889 building, was trying to follow principles of "slow burn construction." There also was a simple sprinkler system.
The pier where freighters once delivered loads of manila and sisal is now home to a growing marina. The view north, over the finger floats and granite bulkhead, shows the tallest buildings in Plymouth: six-story warehouses
Part of the basement of Mill #2 is storage space for an assortment of ancient equipment - wide leather belts, compressors, etc. -once used to convert the raw forces from the raging boilers into electrical power and steam heat for all buildings on the 60-acre campus.
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