In 1837, two brothers arrived in Clinton and soon established the Clinton Company, which manufactured cotton, woolen and silk goods. Erastus Bigelow (1814-1879) was a mechanical genius and self-educated inventor who created a series of power looms that were the world’s first machines for weaving carpets. His brother, Horatio N. Bigelow (1812-1868), was the company’s business manager and a civic leader in the development of Clinton, which grew rapidly as industry expanded in town. The brothers went on to incorporate the Bigelow Carpet Company in 1854. The new company purchased the old property of the Clinton Company in 1863, which included an earlier mill (c. 1810) where the brothers had started their operations in Clinton. The company initiated a major building program, constructing new mills on the property, including the building pictured above, which has an elaborate five-story tower. It was built in 1864-1866, as a wool spinning and carpet weaving mill.

A second period of expansion, in 1898, produced the building pictured below, which was a warehouse and showroom.

A later merger resulted in the company’s move away from Clinton in 1932. The former Bigelow Carpet Company mills, located along Main Street, are now occupied by several different companies and the former warehouse and showroom now contains loft apartments.