Mystery Photo Revealed!

EverythingWestport.com

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Kerr Mill power pulley/flywheel baffles all!

Over 30 submitted guesses incorrectly identified our mystery photo as some sort of grist mill stone; and there were sundry other guesses as well.

This difficult-to-identify item came from our area’s textile heritage, revealing a long ago abandoned part of water and steam power machinery replaced by more conventional power transfer technology.

If someone had just guessed it was the first mythical stone wheel that mankind first developed, they would have been close to the truth.

The mystery item is a pulley/flywheel taken from the former Kerr Thread Mills in Fall River. In January of 1987 the former Kerr Thread Mills were destroyed by a massive fire.

Kerr Mills was an industrial asset to Fall River and an important part of the economy in the East End of the city where the plant was located. In 1939, the company employed more than 1,800 people.

Our mystery item was part of the belt-driven mechanism that powered the machinery in the textile mill pictured below. It provided the inertia to dampen the loads put on the steam engines when looms came on line. The heavy stone wheel once up to speed would be very difficult to slow down.

A sincere gratitude is extended to all mystery photo participants who refrained from calling the Bettencourts to find out what this object was.

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