Current Exhibit
June 8 – October 19, 2024
The Fabrics of Their Lives: Textiles in the Lower Saco Valley
Textiles—a type of cloth or woven fabric; any material made of interlacing fibers. Textiles are all around us. We wear them to keep warm and fill our houses with them to make them more comfortable. Textiles have been an important part of the New England economy for centuries. This exhibition follows the story of textiles in the Saco River Valley beginning with home production in colonial New England, through the rise of industrial production in the 19th century that culminated in a massive mill complex in Saco and Biddeford, ending in the early 21st century when the last of the mills closed and production was sent overseas. In its heyday the Biddeford-Saco mill district was one of the largest cotton production centers in the United States. From homespun and handwoven linen coverlets to the plush softness of WestPoint Pepperell’s Vellux blankets, textiles can tell us many stories about the lives of countless New Englanders.