Eighth in a series of
articles about the history of the mill and its past and current tenants.
The American Woolen Company had a last burst of busy-ness at
the mill during the first years of the Korean War, but those contracts ended in
late 1950, and that was the end of wool for Maynard. A group of local business
people tried to arrange financing to buy the property in 1950, but that failed.
Not until July 1953 did a group from Worcester calling itself Maynard Industries Incorporated
(MII) close a deal.
What they bought was 1.2 million square feet of brick and
wooden buildings, and more: the land included the mill pond, the Ben Smith Dam,
Lake Boon and part of the Fort Meadow Reservoir. The purchase price of $200,000
equates to $1.9 million in today’s dollars. A few years later Lake Boon was
relinquished to the Town of Stow in lieu of unpaid property taxes.
Irving Burg was hired to be the facilities manager six
months after the purchase. His credentials were a bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in education, a stint in the U.S. Army during World War II, and several
years managing a textile plant. Which was exactly the business Maynard’s mill
would never be in again. Burg thrived. His job was to keep the place running
and rent out all the space. By April 1954 the mill was 50% rented, by November,
70%, and so on. Despite desperately necessary facility improvements, the
operation was profitable by the third year and every year thereafter until
Digital Equipment Corporation, a tenant starting in 1957, bought the entire
complex (including pond, canal and dam) in July 1974. Burg’s history of the
mill complex, written in 1982, mentions that in his 21 years as manager the
mill had 82 companies as tenants.
Berg’s recollections returned again and again to parking
problems. One has to realize that during the decades as a woolen mill,
employees walked to work. A circa 1930s aerial view shows no parking lots whatsoever.
Dennison Manufacturing – in the gift wrap paper business – finally insisted on
a dedicated lot, so fill was added next to Main Street, making space for 100
cars. Years later, more parking needed, so one of the two chimneys was
demolished and the bricks added to the fill. This widened the parking lot that now
hosts the Farmers’ Market. Digital, needing parking for Building No. 5,
accomplished this by filling in more of the pond on the south side.
Speaking of Digital, only because of a timely bankruptcy of
a small company named Maynard Mill Outlet did space open up when Ken Olsen and
Harland Andersen came calling. After a few visits they committed to a three
year lease for 8,680 square feet at $300/month. They and Ken’s brother, Stan –
100% of Digital’s employees – spent weekends painting the space themselves,
then filled it with furniture bought from Gruber Brothers on credit. Digital’s
early operations stayed close to the bone. Heating buildings on weekends cost
extra. Raytheon shared one building with Digital. If Raytheon wanted heat,
Digital got heat. Raytheon would call noon on Friday to specify which buildings
it wanted heated. Ken Olsen would call at 1:00 to see if he was going to get
his part of the building heated for free.
![]() |
Similar view, one chimney, with parking lots. Courtesy Maynard Historical Society. Click on photos to enlarge. |
One more parking story. Into the 60s, space was so tight
that people were allowed to park in the millyard, including on the railroad
tracks. For the infrequent arrivals of a freight train on the spur that ran
into the mill, all cars had to be moved. Burg had everyone’s phone number, and
he and his secretary would hastily get on the phones. Whenever the call came,
Ken Olsen would step out of his President’s office to move his car.
Burg retired in January 1989. His career, first at
MMI, and then for Digital, spanned 35 years. Although at the time of his
retirement he was working for Digital in Colorado, he was flown to
Massachusetts for an exit interview with Ken Olsen. It’s a good guess that they
reminisced about when back in 1957, Olsen had showed up to rent a smidgen of
space in the mill. Burg passed away in October 2008. His collection of
newspaper articles and his history of the in-between years (in the collection of the Maynard Historical Society) are essential to any
understanding of the history of Maynard’s mill complex.
I don't remember if it was Hurricane Carol in 1954 or Diane in 1955, but one of those hurricanes knocked the top off the yellow chimney in the Mill. That chimney was the newer of the two. Walnut Street was roped off for days and I can remember seeing bricks on the street.
ReplyDeleteWhichever year that was, the hurricane passed right over Maynard, and I remember going outside to see the eye of the storm pass over our house on Thomas Street, before the storm started up again.