Rittenhouse Mill

Rittenhouse Mill is the first paper mill in the United States, established in 1690 on the north bank of Monoshone Creek near Germantown, outside Philadelphia. The founder, William Rittenhouse, was born in Germany and learned the papermaking skill in Holland. He was one of the first German settlers who came to Germantown. The mill was built by William and his sons Nicholas and [Page 761]Gerghard, both of whom were papermakers. They had three other partners: Robert Turner, William Penn's land agent; Thomas Tresse, a wealthy merchant and ironmonger; and William Bradford, the first printer in Pennsylvania. William Bradford was also a customer of the paper mill. All of the paper he needed for printing was supplied by the Rittenhouse mill instead of being imported from Europe.

Until 1710, it was the only mill in the United States, supplying paper to printers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Rittenhouse mill was modeled after the European mills at that time. It was destroyed twice—once by flood and once by fire—and was rebuilt bigger and better each time. The mill used waste cotton and linen rags, as well as old paper, as raw materials. They were supplied by neighboring Germantown, which was an emerging textile center.

Fresh water was available from the Monoshone Creek for washing fiber and turning the mill machinery. The Rittenhouse family grew bigger over the next 200 years, spanning eight generations, and added more mills producing paper, textiles, rugs and blankets, and grinding grains. By the mid-19th century, this town became a bustling, self-contained, industrial village containing more than 40 buildings, inhabited by Rittenhouse's extended family and other mill workers.