Eagle Mill Developers Share Ideas

Developers of the Eagle Mill in Lee envision new housing being crucial to re-using the former papermaking factory along the Housatonic River.

Representatives of Eagle Mill Enterprise based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., recently outlined "preliminary development ideas" which included a new five-story residential apartment building.

Here's a link to the article in the Berkshire Eagle.

Penmanship and Letter Writing by a Papermaker

I was digging around the Crane archives the other day with Jane Bower from the Wenham (Mass.) Museum. The Museum is hosting an exhibition: Paper Capers: Adventures in Paper Art from Feb. 9 to May 5. I was happy to loan them some really fun items, so put it on your calendar as a must-see.

One of the items lent is a letter written by Zenas Marshall Crane to his future bride Caroline Laflin of nearby Lee, Mass., which was to become the nation's leading papermaking town later in the 19th century. The Laflins were a prominent family in Lee, first as gunpowder manufacturers, then the more reasonable papermaking.

I have long contested that "awkward" penmanship should not be an excuse to avoid putting pen to paper. And I've long advocated being responsible with the amount of paper we use, especially because we tend to print everything that appears on our computer screen.

So, with that as context, here is one of scores of letters from Zenas Marshall Crane to Caroline Laflin during their two-year courtship on paper.

Paper Town: Lee, Mass., on The Paper Trail

Papermaking has been the economic backbone of Lee, Massachusetts, as well as other towns along the Housatonic River, for more than 200 years. At one time, there were 25 paper mills in Lee. The first successful American paper from wood pulp was made here, along with many other industry firsts. In 2008, Schweitzer Mauduit, the largest local employer of paper makers, closed the doors of its four Lee mills, and Mead Westvaco closed one, leaving only one mill running. It is still running.

The Eagle Mill on the Housatonic River in Lee, Mass. The mill closed in 2008, after making paper for more than 200 years.

The history of this great industry in this small New England town is being documented on film by Judith Monachina, a Lee native, and whose family worked in the Lee mills.

"This documentary will be a look at how a small town with a deep history of papermaking envisions its future, and it will give the community a way to look at its past," said Judith.

The documentary tells the story of this papermaking tradition, and the Paper Mills Documentary Project includes students from the Lee Middle School in the process. Students are learning the papermaking heritage of their town as teachers find ways to incorporate local history and papermaking into the curriculum.

Employees of Lee's Columbia Mill in the 1870s.

To date, this project has been supported by Mass Humanities, Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area, High Meadow Foundation, and generous individuals.

Be sure to visit the Paper Town website to learn much more.

Some Good News Along the Paper Trail

We learned from the Berkshire Eagle yesterday that two senior managers at the MeadWestvaco plant in Lee are negotiating to purchase the facility from its parent company and keep it running as it does now with its 122-member work force.

According to the Eagle, "MeadWestvaco General Manager Patricia Begrowicz and Vice President of Sales and Business Development Christopher Mathews confirmed Friday that they are presently in negotiations with the parent company to buy the the Willow Mill, the former Laurel Mill building and the finished goods warehouse, all located in South Lee, from MeadWestvaco Corp."


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Here's a link to the full story.