Woven Into History

Detroit has automobiles, Kalamazoo has paper, and Saginaw has lumber. For the small town of Clinton it was woolen. The Clinton Woolen Manufacturing Company first weaved it's way into the woolen products industry in 1867, only 36 years after the establishment of the township itself.

The original operation took place in a small four story mill producing mostly men's clothing. Due to the mill's position on the River Raisin the mill, as well as Clinton Township, enjoyed easy trade access making Clinton one of Michigan's most affluent trading points west of Detroit.

In 1886 the mill suffered a major fire which completely consumed the original structure. Due to the mill's significance in the local economy the locals quickly banded together raising $10,000 (Around $326,325 in today's money) in just 3 weeks to support the reconstruction of the mill.

These two 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlasses were an interesting find.

The mill resumed operations 2 years later in 1888.

The original mill in 1886 (Image source here)

The mill would go on to produce coats for the United States Military throughout WWI and WWII earning it the Army-Navy Award of Excellence in 1942. It's also worth noting that the mill apparently produced coats for the Spanish American War.

The mill still standing in 2007 (Image source here)

The mill would eventually close its doors in 1957 due to synthetics taking over the market. The site was listed as a historical landmark 1979. The mill would later be used for industrial services and storage until 2008 when a large portion of the mill was destroyed in yet another fire.

In 2010 the mill was sold to an antique store who used the mill as storage until 2023 when the local government acquired the property. While there is currently no plans for the future of the site demolition seems unlikely.

I originally visited this mill in 2022, it was a quick leg stretcher on the way to Hidden Lake Gardens (A really cool park by the way). I didn't take much photos that trip and none of them are really worth including, the only thing that changed between trips was a bit more vandalism and for some reason all the shrubs were cut down.

This looks like part of the 1888 rebuild.

The area surrounding the mill is still fairly active with part of the offices being used as a clinic, there is also a decent amount of foot traffic on the sidewalk north of the complex.

After exploring one of the older buildings, I found my way inside a structure which was likely constructed towards the end of the mill's life due to it's more modern design.

This warehouse was evidently used by its former occupants to store their treasures. I had a fun morning digging through the piles of random items looking for anything interesting.

Found these two sports cars in need of a little TLC.

Despite the forecast of clear skies it had begun to snow fairly hard outside, snowflakes began to flutter in through broken windows leading to an oddly surreal experience.