MOTT MILL
Yonkers, New York

     The Mott Mill, built in 1852 by William Mott as a cotton mill, stands near Elm Street on the east bank of the Saw Mill River (or Nepperhan River, as it is called here). By about 1889, carpet giant Alexander Smith and Sons acquired the small stone building. The Smith company's earliest Yonkers mill (now demolished) stood on the opposite side of the Saw Mill River at Palisade Avenue. About 1906, Alexander Smith & Sons constructed two reinforced concrete buildings to the north of the old stone building. Alexander Smith left Yonkers in 1954 and the buildings here later served a variety of industrial tenants throughout the following decades. Largely abandoned after 1994, the Mott mill and adjoining 1906 building suffered fire damage after being vacated. However, unlike other mills left for ruin, the Mott Mill was brought back to use. In 2002, developer Gary Flocco spent fourteen million dollars to convert the two buildings shown here to housing known as St. Casimir's Senior Residence. Two years later, the buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. (The third mill building is not part of the senior's complex or NRHP designation, but has been converted to apartments.) To the east the spires of St. Casimir's Church rise over the fine stone mansion built by John Copcutt, who once owned the land occupied by the Mott Mills. Across the Saw Mill, a housing project known as the William A. Schlobohm Homes (childhood home of singer Mary J. Blige) has taken the place of other mills, such as John T. Waring's hat factory, which like the first Smith mill, has vanished entirely. 

1852 Mott Mill in front, 1906 Alexander Smith Mill in rear.








"ERECTED 1852:
W. P. MOTT.
BUILDER."




North end of the 1906 mill.



HVArchitecture: Alexander Smith Carpet Mills - Page 1

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