Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company

In 1839, investors chose the waterfront area known as "Stage Point" for a new mill complex owned by Naumkeag Steam Cotton Company,

whose founders appropriated the original indigenous name of the area now known as Salem.

Construction workers finished the massive brick mill building, popularly known as Pequot Mills, in 1848 and production of fine cotton

textiles began on the steam-powered machinery inside. The company mainly wove and sewed sheeting, which was sold internationally

and shipped as far as East Africa.

As Salem's largest employer, the company attracted Irish, French-Canadian and Polish immigrants to settle in the city. While the mill provided

jobs, it periodically faced labor issues and strikes erupted. In 1914, the Great Salem Fire destroyed the complex. The owners rebuilt and the building

is now occupied by Shetland Park. Although the company moved their operations south in 1953, it left a significant imprint on the industrial, labor

and demographic history of our city" ; from the exhibit "Salem Stories" at the Peabody Essex Museum.