Essex Company (Lawrence, Mass.)

The company, located in Lawrence, Mass., was incorporated in 1845 to construct a dam across the Merrimack River with power canals to create water power for use in manufacturing. The original incorporators were Samuel Lawrence, John Nesmith, Daniel Saunders, and Edward Bartlett. The company purchased the rights to nearly 4,000 acres of land in Methuen and Andover, Mass. Construction of the dam and other industrial structures began in 1845 in what would become the city of Lawrence, Mass. Beginning in 1846, sale of land at auction provided for commercial and private residential development. Two manufacturing subsidiaries of the company, the Atlantic Cotton Mills and the Bay State Mills, were also built.

The company, located in Lawrence, Mass., was incorporated in 1845 to construct a dam across the Merrimack River with power canals to create water power for use in manufacturing. The original incorporators were Samuel Lawrence, John Nesmith, Daniel Saunders, and Edward Bartlett. The company purchased the rights to nearly 4,000 acres of land in Methuen and Andover, Mass. Construction of the dam and other industrial structures began in 1845 in what would become the city of Lawrence, Mass. Sale of land at auction provided for commercial and private residential development beginning in 1846, and the town of Lawrence grew quickly. Two manufacturing subsidiaries of the company, the Atlantic Cotton Mills and the Bay State Mills, were also built.

Essex Company chartered in 1845 to build dam and canals on the Merrimack River for the purpose of providing waterpower for textile mills; its directors planned to create a city (Lawrence, Mass.) By selling land on either side of the river for mills, homes for workers and managers, stores, churches, schools, and local government; it was also created to build mills and machinery on contract. Early in the mid 1830s Daniel Saunders began buying land on either side of the Merrimack River to gain water power rights; with others he established the Merrimack Water Power Association and then approached Samuel Lawrence and his brothers, major manufacturers later named Boston Associates; this group bought out Daniel Saunders and formed the Essex Company, keeping Saunders on as land agent. Lawrence was incorporated as a town in 1847 and as a city in 1853, the Essex Company building its industrial infrastructure. Its directors consisted of Boston families, led by Charles Storrow, agent and chief engineer (as well as first mayor of Lawrence). The Boston Associates also formed a company, jointly owned by Essex Company and Lowell's Proprietors of Locks and Canals to guarantee water rights on the Merrimack up to the Lake Winnipesaukee area in New Hampshire.