LEOMINSTER — Regional planning officials have completed a project focused on historic mills in Central Massachusetts, both tracking the current use of historic mills (e.g., vacant or occupied) and talking about the challenges and opportunities associated with adaptive reuse of mill buildings.
The project is being done by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission and the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission. It is part of the work of the Mill Town Caucus, a group from former “mill towns” in Worcester County that strives to promote the reuse of historic mills.
The results can be viewed in a StoryMap, Historic Mill Reuse in Central Massachusetts, that features interactive maps where viewers can explore the status of historic mills in 15 selected “mill towns” and a findings and takeaways report summarizing key themes gleaned from stakeholder discussions.
The project was funded by a Fiscal Year 2025 Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Planning Assistance Grant and matching District Local Technical Assistance funds.
The purpose of the project is to catalog the status of historic mill buildings and in doing so, raise awareness of reuse and/or redevelopment opportunities and document the progress that the Central Massachusetts region has made in rehabilitating many of these historic structures.
Mills and factories in the region once produced a wide range of products including textiles, textile-manufacturing equipment, machine tools, wire and other high-value goods.
Historic mill buildings were identified and mapped by relying on several sources including assessors’ property parcel data was filtered based upon building style descriptions, year of construction and floor area. Also consulted was the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System database, which lists buildings that are of historical significance, including but not limited to places listed on local historic districts and the National Register of Historic Places.
Knowledgeable people from each mill town were also consulted to review the mill inventory.
While the definition of a “mill” is subject to variation. An “Historic Mill Complex” is defined in the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection regulations as “interrelated buildings (manufacturing buildings, housing, utilities, parking areas, and driveways) constructed before and existing after 1946, used for any type of manufacturing or mechanical processing and including associated structures to provide water for processing, to generate water power, or for water transportation.”
To promote consistency, the inventory includes no properties constructed after 1946, even though the advent of steam engines, coal-fired furnaces, and electricity had reduced the importance of waterpower as early as the mid-1920s. Properties with less than 10,000 square feet of floor area were not included.
The categories assigned to the mills include: Vacant: Building has no tenant and is not in current use; Occupied: Building has tenant and is in current use; Demolished (Vacant Land): Building has been demolished. Land is currently vacant; Demolished (Under Redevelopment): Building has been demolished. Site is being redeveloped with new construction; Under Rehabilitation: Building is being renovated/rehabilitated.
Site status was determined through a combination of online research and visual observation. Local stakeholders from each community were consulted to quality check site statuses. Site status was determined between January and July 2026.
Almost 50 mills in Fitchburg were included.
For more information, contact Joe Sziabowski at [email protected].
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