Last updated: 2/14/2012
17 Mill Lane at 29 Lowell St.
Arlington, MA 02476
17 Mill Lane
Arlington, MA 02476
Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Please call ahead at 781-643-0554.
Visitors interested in industrial history, woodworking, mechanics -- or simply the ambiance of an ancient, working manufactory in its original historic setting -- are cordially welcomed to the Mill.
Today The Old Schwamb Mill continues to produce museum quality hand turned wooden oval and circular frames. See an interesting variety of frames and profile styles that have been produced since the Schwambs first began operations here in 1864. See the production of a frame and hear what the woodworker, who makes the frames, has to say about his work. Learn how the lathes work.
The three Mill buildings (Mill, Dryhouse, and Barn), including the woodworking shop floor in the Mill are open for tours.
In a hollow on the Mill Brook in Arlington, Massachusetts, a woodworker today is making exquisite hand-turned oval frames on 19th century lathes in a wooden mill building dating from the time of the Civil War. The historic Old Schwamb Mill site itself survives as a continuously operating site where, for more than three hundred years, immigrant Puritan, Yankee, and German entrepreneurs harnessed the free water power of a narrow, fast moving brook to run machines and develop a series of family-owned businesses. The Mill's story is as compelling as the beauty of the frames produced here for the most recent 137 years.
Discover the history of The Old Schwamb Mill. Learn about the beginnings of the community along the brook and how Charles Schwamb purchased the Woodbridge Spice Mill and converted it for woodworking purposes, building a successful family-owned business here that continued for 105 years. Learn how the Mill has survived since 1969, operated as a mill-museum by an all-volunteer nonprofit charitable educational trust. Browse through a series of articles published about the Mill.
Today The Old Schwamb Mill continues to produce museum quality hand turned wooden oval and circular frames. See an interesting variety of frames and profile styles that have been produced since the Schwambs first began operations here in 1864. See the production of a frame and hear what the woodworker, who makes the frames, has to say about his work.
Take a virtual walk through the Mill or around the surrounding grounds. Come watch a frame being made or just watch and listen to the brook running past the Mill.
Custom Oval Frames:
All oval frames are made to meet customer specifications.
Please call us at 781-643-0554 to discuss your specific requirements.
Schwamb Mill Preservation Trst
The Old Schwamb Mill does not publish a catalog.
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