| 1849 — | The religious community known as the Shirley Shakers laid the foundation for a cotton mill on the banks of the
Catacunemaug. The brick building was to be 140 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 3 stories high, plus an attic which
was to be filled with machinery, plus a water tower with bell tower bell.
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| 1850 — | They completed construction of the factory building. They later added three tenement buildings for families. These
were each two stories high and had space for four families. There was also a three story high boarding house for
single workers, and an office. The complex was rented to the Steam Mill Company of New Bedford who adopted
the name of the Phoenix Cotton Manufacturing Company.
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| 1851 — |
Nearly 200 Shakers from Shirley and Harvard held an all day meeting to dedicate the building.
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| 1852 — |
The Steam Mill company installed all the equipment and leased the building from the Shakers. The tail race that
ran parallel to the Brook was dug and lined with elms all the way down to where it joined the Nashua River.
Later in 1852 - The Shakers cooperated with other Shirley Village mill owners to build a dam and create a seven
hundred acre reservoir, upstream on the Lunenburg-Shirley line.
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| 1856 — |
The dam at Lake Shirley broke, destroying bridges, mills, and homes. The Shakers and other partners in the
reservoir company were held liable and the Shakers went into debt so they sold the mill to the New Bedford
Company.
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| 1868 — |
The tax valuation showed that Phoenix Cotton Manufacturing owned 72 acres of land.
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| 1875 — |
The town map showed that Phoenix Cotton Manufacturing owned buildings on Phoenix Street, the old Main Street,
and the new Front Street. Some of these were storage facilities next to the train tracks. Others were housing for
workers or for executives.
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| 1880 — |
The tax and valuation listed the owner as Horatio Hathaway of New Beford.
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| 1881 — |
The mill and associated property was bought by C.W. and J.E. Smith who owned the Fredonian Cotton Mill, a short
distance upstream.
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Meanwhile, in Boston —
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| 1870 — |
James P. Tolman began making braided cord.
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| 1876 — |
The trademark “Samson” was first put on solid braided rope being manufactured in a small factory in Fort Hill
Square in Boston.
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| 1884 — |
The trademark of Samson and the Lion was registered to illustrate the superior quality and characteristics of
the product.
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| 1883 — |
Chandler wrote his History of Shirley and mentioned the many immigrants from Ireland, Canada, Poland,
Lithuania, and Russia who had moved into the area to work in the Shirley mills. By 1895 one fourth of Shirley’s
population was foreign-born.
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| 1888 — |
Samson Cordage Works was incorporated by James P. Tolman, its first President. The business moved its
manufacturing to Shirley while keeping its offices in Boston. Herbert G. Pratt was the treasurer.
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| 1892 — |
Samson bought Fredonian Mill — It may have been at this time that the Fredonian Mill building was used as a power
plant for the main Samson factory.
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| 1909 — |
Anniston Cordage Company of Alabama was acquired by Samson. Samson had the largest investment and the largest
production in the cordage industry
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| 1919/1920 — |
Samson extended Chapel Street, laid out Tolman Ave. and Rodman Ave. and constructed duplexes to be rented to
families of mill workers. They put steps into the hillside so workers could cross the dam and go up the hill to go
home for lunch.
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| 1936 — |
Icard Cordage MFG CO. of North Carolina was acquired by Samson.
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| 1945 — |
Until World War II, the rope was made of cotton. Then they started using synthetics here. The cotton machinery was
moved to the southern factories.
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| 1958 — |
Two in One braid was invented.
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| 1959 — |
The old tenements were knocked down to create parking spaces.
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| 1970 — |
Ocean Systems of England and Scotland was added.
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| 1978 — |
The name was changed to Samson Ocean Systems.
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| 1978 — |
Ensearch Corporation of Texas acquired Samson Ocean Systems. It had six divisions serving the hardware trade and
general industry.
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| 1984 — |
The 100th year anniversary of the Samson trademark, the oldest trademark in continuous use in the United States,
was celebrated with a parade and special programs. |
| 1988 — |
The Shirley plant employed 80 hourly employees and about 45 others. Ensearch was sold to a management team
headed by its President Stephen Swiackey. The decision was made to close the Shirley plant. The workers were
offered the chance to move and work at the other factories in Anniston, Alabama or Ferndale Washington. For many
years, Ted Norman served as caretaker for the old Ocean Systems buildings. Minimum maintenance was done during
that time.
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| December 1998 to Current — 18 Phoenix Park LLC “Phoenix Park” was formed and purchased the property. The buildings and
property have been undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration. Over 200,000 square feet of 300,000 square feet
have been renovated and leased to over 45 small to mid-sized companies representing a wide range of traditional
and new economy business sectors.
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