The Watkins Woolen Mill is among the best preserved examples of a mid-19th century woolen mill in the United States. Its variety of machinery for preparing, spinning, and weaving--some of it modified during its life at the mill to improve its performance--presents an unsurpassed cross section of textile technology at that time and is the finest collection of early textile machines in North America. The mill was designed and built by Waltus L. Watkins (1806-1884), a machinist and master weaver from Frankfort, Kentucky.
Waltus Locket WATKINS was born in Frankfort, Woodford County, Kentucky. When he was a young man he learned the machinist's trade in the East, and worked on one of the first locomotives built in the United States. He gained experience in cotton manufacturing in the cotton mills of his uncles, and for two years was superintendent at a mill in Frankfort, Kentucky.
In 1830, he moved to Liberty, Missouri, where he built a small cotton mill. He converted his plant to a woolen mill when he discovered that the area was not adaptable to cotton. Within a few years the mill was destroyed by fire, and Watkins turned all his attention to farming. In 1834, he married Mary Ann Holloway, also of Kentucky. Shortly after, he purchased a tract of land in Clay County and once again set up a woolen mill and farm.
By the spring of 1861, the Watkins Mill began partial operation. During the winter months when inclement weather hindered its operation, the mill would close down; hence, it operated approximately nine months out of the year. Consumption of wool more than doubled in America during the Civil War as the need for woolen cloth increased. As Watkins prospered, his complex grew. A flour mill was established in 1849 which used six oxen to provide power for grinding. A general store stocked food staples, shoes, shirts, hats, hardware, and buggy and wagon parts. The plant even manufactured brooms at one time. Millworkers lived in small houses on the grounds. Watkins' real estate in 1860 was valued at $12,000; by 1870 it had increased to $122,000. Watkins died on January 24, 1884. The business was carried on by his sons John, Judson, and Joe. John had become his father's partner in 1873, and the others had joined in 1882.
By 1883, cloth sales had declined, and yarn sales constituted the major source of income. Eventually, the Watkins Mill suffered from the economic malaise that swept the woolen industry of the Midwest, and it ceased to operate sometime around the turn of the century.
About Watkins Woolen Mill and Bethany Farm
