S. D. Warren Paper Mill

Cumberland Mills Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Both sides of thePresumpscot Riverbetween railroad tracks and Warren Avenue,Westbrook, Maine
Coordinates	43°41′04″N70°21′13″W
Area	110 acres (45 ha)
Architect	John Calvin Stevens&Francis H. Fassett
Architectural style	Queen Anne, Shingle-style
NRHP referenceNo.	74000316
Added to NRHP	May 2, 1974

S.D. Warren Paper Mill in c. 1910

TheS. D. Warren Paper Millis a paper mill on thePresumpscot RiverinWestbrook, Maine.It is now owned bySAPPI Limited,aSouth Africanpaper concern. It is one of Westbrook's major employers. The mill complex and former worker and management housing associated with the mill's operation in the 19th century were listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1974 as theCumberland Mills Historic District.

History

The Warren paper mill is a large sprawling industrial complex spanning the Presumpscot River just north of Cumberland Street in central eastern Westbrook.A paper mill was established on this site in the 1730s, when it was a rural and fairly unpopulated area. In 1854, that smallpaper mill,in the soon-to-be established town of Westbrook, was purchased for $28,000 bySamuel D. Warren,known as S. D. Warren,uncle ofGeorge W. Hammond,who also worked there.The mill was named Grant, Warren and Company. In that year, the mill was only running two paper machines and had a production output of about 3,000 pounds of paper per day. Nine years later in 1863, an additional machine was added to the mill, and the production increased to 11,000 pounds per day.

In 1854, paper was made by beating down rags and using the pulp from the rags. In 1867, after the mill changed its name to S. D. Warren Paper Mill Company, Warren decided to add wood fibers with rags fibers for paper. It was the first mill in the United States to do so. The mill became the largest in the world. By 1880, the mill produced 35,000 pounds of paper per day.

Warren died in 1888 and was succeeded by his son, alsoSamuel D. Warren II,who managed the business until his death in 1910. The mill continued to grow through the 20th century, employing close to 3,000 Westbrook residents. Scott Paper Company diversified operations through purchase of S. D. Warren in 1967. Scott Paper company operated the S.D. Warren Company as a wholly owned subsidiary until 1994, when it sold this leading producer of light-weight and heavy-weight coated papers.In 1995,SAPPI Limited,a paper company based inSouth Africapaid $300 million for the mill and outsourced most of the work in the mill to South Africa. The mill now only employs about 300 people, but continues to be a presence in the city of Westbrook.

The mill property and a number of surrounding properties were listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin 1974. Included in this listing were the mill itself, a row of Shingle style worker housing on Brown Street (from designs byJohn Calvin StevensandAndrew Jackson Downing), and the elaborate Queen Anne Victorian home of Warren's son John, located across Cumberland Street from the mill.

Rail facilities

Cumberland Mills was served by thePortland and Ogdensburg Railroad(laterMaine Central Railroad) and the Portland and Rochester Railroad (laterBoston and Maine Railroad). Horse-drawn wagons transferredfreightbetween the mill and therailroads.The wagons rode on2 ft(610 mm)narrow gaugerails after 1874.Steam locomotivesreplaced the horses in 1895. The first three locomotives weighed 7 tons each, and carried 200 gallons of water.The locomotives were originally oil fueled; but were converted to burn coal after three employees died in an oil fire during refueling in 1921.Pulpwood was transported into the mill in 20-foot-long cars carrying 2 cords of pulpwood.There were 110 pulpwood cars in 1938 and the mill consumed 180 cords of pulpwood per day.Narrow gaugelocomotives transferred 250 tons of coal per day to the mill boilers and transported ash from the boilers to a disposal pile.

The mill also usedstandard gaugelocomotives afterspur trackswere extended onto the mill property. The last standard gauge locomotive was sold to theMaine Central RailroadwhenPortland Terminal Companytook over millyard switching work in 1929.The last2 ft(610 mm) gauge locomotives were sold in 1949 after conveyor systems were constructed to transport materials formerly moved in narrow gauge cars.

Locomotives

Number	Gauge	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	2 ft(610 mm)	Baldwin Locomotive Works	0-4-0T	1895	14283	reboilered 1926 sold 1949 New Jersey amusement park to Boothbay Railway Museum 1971
2	2 ft(610 mm)	Baldwin Locomotive Works	0-4-0T	1896	14522	reboilered 1926 sold 1949 New Jersey amusement park to Boothbay Railway Museum 1971
3	2 ft(610 mm)	Baldwin Locomotive Works	0-4-0T	1905		dismantled for parts to keep #1 & #2 operating
4	standard		0-4-0			ex-Boston and Maine Railroadacquired 1896 retired 1910
5	standard		0-4-0			ex-Boston and Maine Railroad#465
6	standard
7	standard		0-4-0			ex-Pennsylvania Railroad
8	2 ft(610 mm)	Davenport Locomotive Works	0-4-0T	1914
9	standard	American Locomotive Company	0-6-0	1924		sold toMaine Central Railroad#189 in 1929

See also

• Cumberland and Oxford Canal

References

• Andrews, Dick (1987). "The S.D. Warren Paper Company Tram". Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
• Mason, Beverly L. (1974). "The Mill's Railroads -- Broad and Narrow". Warren's Standard.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)

External links

• The S. D. Warren Paper Mill Photographic CollectionNO LONGER VALID
• Scott Paper to buy back $300 million in stock and reduce debt by $1.3 billion
• A Brief History of Papermaking in Maine(in Internet Archive)