The Barre Wool
BARRE WOOL DEMOLITION, SOUTH BARRE, MASSACHUSETTS
Reflections
When I visited the former mill site today, I saw blank eyes staring back at me from every angle. Through glass-less windows, the interior of the old mill building exposed itself to passersby. On the west side of the top of the tower, I could see spectacles and a nose glaring down at me; once these were round windows bordered with ornate brickwork. On the east side of the tower, a round window-eye was fringed by an eyebrow formed by weeds growing from the roof. From across Nornay Park, itself created on the grounds of a demolished mill building, boarded-up doors and windows hinted at the toil of hundreds of people who worked there between 1903 and 1974.
The old brick mill building is in the process of being demolished. The Barre Wool Combing Co. Ltd. closed in 1974 after 71 years of operation. Since then, the building has deteriorated to the point of dereliction. No acceptable and appropriate use was found for it, so now it will be torn down. The date of this and the method of demolition has not been publicly revealed, but in past weeks, activity has increased.
Today, a crew of men was working on the roof. A loader was digging on the side of the building, creating a trench to the old basement.
Although this building is the dominant physical feature of South Barre, life will continue without it. The vitality of the village has been formed and nurtured by the people who worked at the Barre Wool. Before 1903, there was no village of South Barre. Previously, smaller mills had operated there and a few houses had been built, but no true community existed. Francis Willey and his English woolen company brought work, mill housing, two churches, markets, stores, function halls, hotels, a swimming area, athletic fields, band concerts, and many opportunities for people to enjoy a good quality of life. The Town of Barre built a primary school there. Because many of the students were the small children of Italian immigrants, it was called the “Baby School” or the “Italian School.” South Barre Road was built to make it easier for people from South Barre to get to the center of Barre. The mill provided plots of land for the people living in the mill housing to use for gardens. In these gardens, people grew not just vegetables and fruits, but raised goats and chickens and rabbits.
Immigrants from England and Italy and Poland came to work in the mill. Their cultures and customs helped shape the Town of Barre. Some of their children moved away, but some stayed. Many of these immigrants fought for their new country, and some gave their lives. Within one block you can see Celona Square, honoring Salvatore J. Celona who was Killed in Action in WWII; Corso Square, honoring the sacrifice of 1st Lt. Americo J. Corso who was killed in Action at the Battle of the Bulge; and Basil D. Izzi Memorial Bridge, which recalls the incredible survival of our local Seaman. He spent 83 days adrift on a raft after his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in WWII. Here you will also find a monument erected to honor those who served in WWI, including many English immigrants who returned to England to fight for their country.
Across from the doomed mill building is Nornay Park, which is dedicated to the memory of the immigrants who came to work at the mill. Poems by South Barre’s own poet, Virginia V. Unitis, tell the story of how they came to South Barre and adapted to a very new way of life. As she wrote in her poem, “A Place of Honor:”
“They were so brave in coming
To a land so strange and new
But they strived to learn the language
And make their dream come true.”
And now there will be a new challenge, and we will, I believe, meet it with the same courage as the immigrants of more than 100 years ago.
Lucy Allen
Sept. 7, 2021
