The Belmont Mill NH State Register Nomination was prepared for the Belmont Heritage Commission. The mill was constructed in 1834 and was central to the development of the town of Belmont. Factory Village (as Belmont was once called) was built around the Badger Mill, and the village evolved into today’s Belmont as the Badger Mill grew into the Gilmanton Mill and then into the Belmont Mill.

This mill complex was the driving force in Belmont’s economy throughout its transition from a locally-capitalized cotton mill in the 1830s to a highly mechanized hosiery factory with world-wide distribution in the 20th century. In 1970, the Belmont Mill was largely abandoned when the Fenwick Hosiery Mills (who had purchased the mill in 1956) consolidated in Laconia.

On August 14, 1992, there was a devastating five alarm fire at the Belmont Mill complex. As a result of the fire, many of the outbuildings at the mill were demolished and a Save the Mill Committee was started in an effort to preserve the 1834 main building. In January 1996, the first Plan NH Charrette was held to focus on possible future uses of the Belmont Mill and how to fund the project. Through a series of grants and a grass-roots community effort, the mill was renovated between 1996-1998.

Those efforts to save the Belmont Mill have been widely recognized in the preservation community, and the adaptive reuse project has received many awards. For more information, visit the Belmont Village Revitalization site or see the Laconia Daily Sun article announcing the State Register listing.

[Post by Mae Williams, PSU ’14G, preservation consultant on the listing]