(Page 5 of 17) Print Version
Plan of Lands of Saco Water Power Co. at Saco & Biddeford, 1848
Dyer Library/Saco Museum
The cotton textile manufacturing industry became very significant in Biddeford once the Laconia Mills and Pepperell Mill were established. Saco Water Power Company of York Manufacturing, built the Laconia Mills on the Biddeford side of the river in 1844, then started Pepperell Manufacturing Company in 1850. Once these two mills were established this mill district came to be one of the largest cotton milling facilities in the country. Even when cotton manufacturing became scarce, they worked on army tents, wagon covers, heavy drills, and jeans for military use.