Manchester
was incorporated in 1810 as a textile center on the Merrimack
River. The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company opened its first mill
here in 1836. The company (and the city, which depended on the
mills) thrived over the next 75 years. At its peak in 1915 when
the last mill was built, Amoskeag was the largest manufacturing
facility in the world, covering eight million square feet of floor
space--equivalent to the World Trade Center. Unfortunately, after
the first World War a combination of Southern competition, bad
management and lower demand for textile goods cut into the
company’s profits. A series of strikes drove the company into
bankruptcy in 1936. From 1936 until the early 1980’s, the city
was in serious decline. The mills stood largely empty, a silent
testimony to thousands of shattered dreams.
Beginning
in the 80’s, both public and private investments in the old
mills began to breathe new life into them. Shops, small
manufacturers, museums, artists and offices began renovating and
sharing space in the mills that were preserved. With these new
businesses the rest of Manchester slowly recovered from decline.
The downtown area, once described as a “wasteland,” began to
fill up with restaurants, corporate offices and studios.
Manchester, as one writer put it, now “has a pulse.”
