D. H. & A. B. Tower - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Ashley B. Tower) American architects, civil and mechanical engineers

42°12′22″N 72°36′07″W / 42.206192°N 72.601977°W / 42.206192; -72.601977

D. H. & A. B. Tower

David H. Tower (left) and Ashley B. Tower (right)
Practice information
Partners	David H. Tower Ashley B. Tower
Founded	1878
Dissolved	1892
No. of employees	35 (1892)
Location	Holyoke, Massachusetts
Affiliations	A.B. Tower & Company Tower & Wallace George F. Hardy & Son

Doing business as D. H. & A. B. Tower, brothers David Horatio Tower (March 7, 1832 – December 22, 1907) and Ashley Bemis Tower (June 26, 1847 – July 8, 1901) were internationally known American architects, civil and mechanical engineers based in Holyoke, Massachusetts, who designed mills and factories in the United States from Maine to California as well as abroad, including in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, the United Kingdom, India, China, Japan, and Australia. By the time of its dissolution, the firm was described by one contemporary account as "the largest firm of paper mill architects in the country at that time"; its files reportedly contained more than 8,000 architectural plans for sites, mill machinery, and waterpower improvements.

In a treatise on his own work in mill engineering, Joseph Wallace, former partner to Ashley B. Tower, lauded their work posthumously saying "the history of paper mill engineering is largely the story of the work of the 'Towers of Holyoke,' followed by the younger generation of engineers trained in the Tower offices." Their most famous works include Kimberly Clark's earliest pulp plants in Kimberly, Wisconsin for which Ashley B. Tower furnished designs, and David H. Tower's designs for Crane Currency, of Dalton, Massachusetts, for the first facilities to produce currency paper for the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

History

David Tower, the senior partner of the firm, first entered the business of engineering paper mills as an apprentice millwright in 1845 at the age of 13, and eventually moved his own practice to Holyoke in 1867. Receiving a steady stream of work, David gradually brought on other draftsmen and was joined in 1871 by his younger brother Ashley B. Tower, who he mentored as his own apprentice. By 1878, Ashley Tower had become accustomed to the trade and an influx of business led to him being made the firm's junior partner, which became best known as D. H. & A. B. Tower.

From 1878 until 1892, the brothers Tower would produce some of their most prolific work. During this time the brothers furnished designs on mills and mill machinery in Holyoke, from Maine to California in the continental United States, and abroad on five continents. While an exact figure is unknown, in a cross-examination of Ashley Tower in a court case between the City of Holyoke and the Holyoke Water Power Company in 1899, Tower stated that of the mills built in Holyoke up until that time, he had been involved in the construction of 25 in some capacity, 16 of which were done in a central design role. While it is unclear from this testimony what share of work was done by each brother and how many of those mills designed were in the seven years following David's retirement Ashley Tower stated he had worked on more than 55 mills in key engineering roles, and more than 100 in any capacity.

The brothers would also play a significant role in establishing the economic success of the Kimberly-Clark company, designing one of its earliest groundwood pulp plants in Kimberly, Wisconsin in 1888. More significantly however, their designs for sulfite pulp mills in Appleton, Wisconsin built in 1890 gave the company a significant advantage. With this new plant the company had the resources and geographic scale of the American Midwest, while operating the first such mill west of Pennsylvania to adopt the improved process which derived almost pure cellulose from wood pulp.

At the beginning of their partnership the firm was located in the Hadley Falls Bank Building which sat at the corner of Main and Dwight (not to be confused with the later Hadley Falls Trust Building at the corner of Maple & Suffolk), and subsequently relocated to Holyoke's Flatiron block, which was said to have had advantageous lighting at most hours of the day due to its rounded northeast-facing corner, which had windows facing in three different directions. Originally Ashley B. Tower joined David H. as an apprentice, with no prior experience in engineering work or architecture besides a previous carpentry apprenticeship. In time his abilities exceeded his older brother's in certain regards; of the two, he was the only one known to hold patents- by 1885, he had invented an improved wood pulp grinder which would be used in their clients' mills domestically and abroad.

One of the things that reportedly made their firm successful was their study of foreign as well as domestic designs, with reports that the Towers went abroad to Europe in 1884–1885 to examine the latest designs in paper mills on that continent. Moreover, their firm placed a far greater emphasis on the surroundings of the sites at which their mills were constructed, rendering otherwise challenging terrain into the driving force of a mill's productivity. Among notable examples of this is the site of the Melchert & Cia Mill in Salto, São Paulo, Brazil. Designed and built in 1887 on the banks of the Tietê River, at the time of its construction it was regarded as a folly by locals, who mocked Melchert & Cia, its wealthy Brazilian backers, for " insane idea of manufacturing paper in that country". Designed by the brothers Tower, it became the first industrial paper mill in South America and remains a functional site even today, producing large quantities of paper for currency.

Another example of the brothers' methodical research can be found in the construction of the, since demolished, Hampden County Jail. When first contracted for the design, the two not only consulted with county authorities through their several drafts of the facility's design, but personally travelled through a number of states to obtain the best working ideas for penitentiaries at that time.

They were described by several accounts as having been known internationally, with projects engineered by them in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and Central American nations as well. Toward the end of their partnership, one account reports their company established a department devoted entirely to commercial and residential structures as well. Their architectural styles varied on the practicality of the project in question, and Second Empire and Italianate motifs can be found in their more ornate work. As if in jest, referencing their family name, the brothers were known for prominently featuring literal towers in their work, often decorative in nature, with faux battlements.

The Massasoit; built in Holyoke in 1891, it was a rare example of the firm's residential work. The terra cotta gable centerpiece, featuring the profile of the Wampanoag chief remains at the corner of Chestnut and Essex, set in concrete.

By 1897 the landscape of the Holyoke Canal System had become crowded with mills, with relatively little waterpower remaining for new projects. This, combined with demand for larger-scaled operations and ready access to raw material led Tower & Wallace to relocate to New York City, where the firm would remain for the next several years. It was reported by the end of the brothers' partnership that all of their architectural and mechanical designs, some 8,000 drawings were stored in a series of safes in the third floor of the Flatiron block for the purpose of preserving the designs for their clients in case of an emergency, the fate of these plans remains unknown, however following Ashley Tower's death in 1901, the assets of the former Tower firm in New York were purchased by their former draftsman George F. Hardy, who maintained his own engineering business in that city thereafter.

Legacy

In their time the two were "widely regarded as the best paper mill architects in the world", attributed to the fact that the brothers employed both civil and mechanical engineering and made thorough study of sites to employ natural power in their architectural plans. Upon their deaths, the two brothers were praised like royalty, with Ashley Tower, described in one trade journal as "the Nestor of paper and pulp mill engineering" and David Tower touted by William Randolph Hearst's national news service as "the Paper King".

During the firm's time under the handle "D. H. & A. B. Tower", the two designed at least 100 or so mills, and this does not include those which had been designed and constructed by either brother individually before or after their dissolution, nor does this include the many works of their pupils, some of whom had served as A.B. Tower's junior partners in the years after 1892.

One entry for their office in 1890 described their office as employing 12-15 staff, whereas other accounts describe as many as 35, including stenographers, draughtsmen and civil engineers. The latter proved to become as much a legacy of the firm as their dozens of mills, as Joseph Wallace later described- "a number of the noteworthy pulp and paper mills erected in America have been entrusted to 'Tower' graduates."

Among these was George F. Hardy, who worked with the brothers starting in 1888, and become the junior partner of the firm a year after David's departure, from 1893 to 1896. Hardy would go on to become International Paper's first chief engineer, overseeing the logistics and technical work of operating its 17 mills when it first merged in 1898 He would ultimately leave this post in 1901, only to acquire the Towers' business in its last iteration in New York City, including a number of assets Ashley Tower left behind following his sudden death. Rechristened as George F. Hardy & Son, he would continue to build upon the legacy of his former employers, designing dozens of paper mills internationally for several more decades. So prominent became his work that he would later be described in a 1908 Congressional hearing on the industry as "the famous paper and pulp mill architect of the East".

Another noteworthy pupil of the brothers was Hardy S. Ferguson, who went on to build the Great Northern Paper Company's mills. The company's facilities, which remained operational into the 21st century, were his first independent project in 1899. He became another mill engineer subsequently who, in his own right, would influence mill engineering on an international scale as, at the time of its construction, the Great Northern Paper Mill was the world's largest.

Two alumni of the firm would go on to work as chief engineers of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, including Arthur W. French, who subsequently became a professor of engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Daniel P. Jones, who was tasked with not only its management but the expansion of its facilities.

Joseph Wallace, the biographer and evangelist of the brothers' work long after their deaths, joined the firm in 1894, soon after David's retirement. He became Ashley Tower's last junior partner in 1897, leaving shortly before Tower's death, and would go on to develop his own successful millwright business, one of his own major accomplishments being the design of hydraulic plants for Kimberly Clark.

David H. Tower

David Horatio Tower

Born	March 7, 1832 Cummington, Massachusetts
Died	December 22, 1907(1907-12-22) (aged 75) Dalton, Massachusetts
Nationality	American
Known for	Architect, Civil Engineer, Mechanical Engineer
Spouse	Margaret Young (m. 1859)
Children	1

David Horatio Tower (March 7, 1832 – December 22, 1907) was born to Stephen Dyer Tower and Esther Eliza Tower (née Beal) on March 7, 1832, in Cummington, Massachusetts; he was the eldest of their ten children. When he was 3 years old, his family moved to Windsor, Massachusetts. Tower was educated at a small country school there until the age of 13, at which time he entered an apprenticeship with a local millwright.

His first notable job was his work in rebuilding the Crane Company's Red Mill of Dalton in 1846, which had been originally erected four years earlier by industrialist and papermaker Zenas Crane. This would be the first of many such projects that would characterize his career. Until his death in 1907, Tower was prolific in the construction, remodeling, and engineering of numerous paper mills as well as facilities for other industries. His work was wide-ranging, from the design of stationary buildings such as business blocks and residences, to the engineering of mechanical equipment such as dams and waterwheels.

On July 2, 1859, Tower married Margaret Young, of Glasgow, Scotland; the couple bore one son, Walter Lamont, who was born in Dalton on December 26, 1868. During the Civil War, Tower, 6 ft 6 in (1.98m) in stature, was exempt from the draft due to scoliosis.

Among those mills which David Tower was specifically identified with were the four paper mills of the Crane company of Dalton, Massachusetts, which continues to produce paper for the United States Treasury, as well as a number of foreign governments. He also worked closely with Byron Weston to develop paper mills in Dalton and Windsor, Connecticut. The very last mill Tower would design was the Pioneer Mill & Company, also built in Dalton.

In retirement he continued to do some work with the assistance of his son, including a dam to the local Egypt Reservoir in Dalton, which was part of a broader overhaul for the Crane company and the town alike, engineering a reservoir water system that would allow the town to make use of the pumps of the Weston mills for additional pressure in the event of a fire. David was also an avid breeder of Jersey cattle, and was recorded as having 20 cows and 9 sheep on his farm "Sunnyside" in 1885.

Throughout his life he had remained an active Congregationalist, but was not known to be a member of any fraternities, service organizations, or clubs. Having retired from business some years prior, David Tower died at his farm, "Sunnyside", in Dalton at 2pm on December 22, 1907; he was 75. In a nationally syndicated obituary, the Hearst News Service lauded Tower "the Paper King," describing him as "one of the greatest paper manufacturers in the world". He was interred at Main St Cemetery in Dalton, Massachusetts.

Ashley B. Tower

Ashley Bemis Tower

Born	June 26th, 1847 Windsor, Massachusetts
Died	July 8, 1901(1901-07-08) (aged 54) Montclair, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Known for	Architect, Civil Engineer
Spouse	Pamelia J. Fritts (m. 1875)
Children	1

Ashley Bemis Tower (June 26, 1847 – July 8, 1901) was born to Stephen Dyer Tower and Esther Eliza Tower on June 26, 1847, in Windsor, Massachusetts; he was the youngest of their ten children. When he was 7 years old, the family relocated to Dalton, Massachusetts, where he attended school and worked with his father on the family farm.

In 1868 Tower left for Newburg, New York where he took up carpentry with one of his older brothers. Following this, he moved to Holyoke in 1871 where he studied engineering under his aforementioned brother David.

In 1875 he married Pamelia J. Fritts. Having gradually learned the millwright trade from his brother, he became the junior partner of D. H. & A. B. Tower in 1878. In order to keep their firm competitive and abreast of the latest developments in industrial architecture, Ashley Tower travelled twice to Europe to study foreign construction methods of paper mills.

Patents
US311212A	US620619A
Machine for Grinding Pulp from Wood January 27, 1885	Driving Connection for Paper Machinery March 7, 1899

During this time Tower also served as City Engineer for Holyoke from 1881 to 1883, introducing reforms to that office. In this same time he also designed the grounds of the city's Calvary Cemetery, and served as a consulting engineer of the American Sulphite Company. By 1892 he had begun serving on the board of directors of the Denver Paper Mills Company. Closer to home he was also an active promoter in the development of Highland Park, being the figure petitioning the incorporation of a "Highland Park Improvement Company" in 1893.

On January 1, 1892, Tower bought out his brother's interest in the partnership, becoming the sole proprietor of the firm. He continued the business at their original location for the following year before partnering with George F. Hardy and becoming A.B. Tower & Company, a name which would be retained until 1896 upon Hardy leaving to pursue other opportunities.

Following a growth in business, Tower relocated to New York City in 1897 and partnered with civil engineer Joseph H. Wallace as his junior member under the firm Tower & Wallace. Reflecting the changes of the times, the firm began focusing on steel office building work in addition to the core clientele of paper mills. This firm name remained until February 1901 when Wallace left to pursue an independent career.

When the American Writing Paper Company trust went into business in 1899, Ashley Tower was among those hired to appraise its assets, having been involved in the design of many of them himself. At the time of his death he was in the midst of drawing plans for a large mill building in New Brunswick. While no works are known, an obituary reported he had done design work on a number of New York skyscrapers in his final years.

Tower was described as "domestic in his tastes" and maintained a library and private art collection. In contrast with his elder brother who refrained from participating in social or professional organizations, Ashley was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. Ashley also was an active freemason, being a member of not only the blue lodge but also a Knights Templar, and 32nd degree mason of the Scottish Rite. He was reportedly also very fond of horsemeat, and kept a stable of about a dozen horses.

On July 8, 1901, Tower died suddenly at his home in Montclair, New Jersey of "heat prostration". By the end of his life he had received critical acclaim in his field and was previously described by John A. Kimberly of Kimberly-Clark fame as "the prince of paper mill architects". Survived by his wife, and several of his siblings, he was interred at Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Selected works

The list below contains several of the works of the brothers Tower; unless otherwise indicated by date or name, these projects were overseen by both during their time as partners. Not all works are represented below and in addition to their prolific domestic work, the brothers were said to have designed at least one paper mill in Japan during the Meiji period, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Paper and textile mills

The former Parsons Paper Mill No. 2; built in 1888, it was the last paper producer (several converters still remain) in the city of Holyoke. Closing in 2005, it burned in 2008, and the site was redeveloped in 2016 into a solar panel complex.

Springfield Paper Company Mill, Rainbow, Connecticut (1864), D. H. Tower
Albion Paper Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1869, demolished 2018), D. H. Tower
Whiting Paper Company Mill No. 2, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1869)
Orono Pulp & Paper Mill, Orono, Maine (c. 1872)
C. H. Dexter & Sons, Windsor Locks, Connecticut (1874), D. H. Tower
Delaney & Munson Manufacturing Co., Unionville, Connecticut (1874)
Chemical Paper Company Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1880), now main manufacturing plant of the Hazen Paper Company
Fairchild Paper Company Mill, Pepperell, Massachusetts (1880)
Southworth Mittineague Mill, West Springfield, Massachusetts (1880, demolished)
Winona Paper Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1880, demolished c. 2014)
Nonotuck Paper Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1881, demolished c. 2011)
Hampden Glazed Paper and Card Company, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1882), still in operation under original business
George R. Dickinson Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1882)
A.S. Newcomb & Co. Mill, High Falls, New York (1883)
Glens Falls Paper Company, Glens Falls, New York (1884), D. H. Tower; now site of Finch Paper
Ticonderoga Paper and Pulp Mills, Ticonderoga, New York (c. 1884)
Melchert & Cia - Fábrica de Papel de Salto, Salto, São Paulo, Brazil (1887), the first industrial paper mill in South America
Parsons Paper Mill No. 2, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1888, demolished 2016)
Hollywood Mill, Richmond, Virginia (1888)
Denver Paper Mills Company, Denver, Colorado (c. 1890), manufacturing facilities constructed for James H. Platt Jr.
Kimberly-Clark Mills, Appleton, Wisconsin (1890)
Madison Paper Mill, Madison, Maine (1890)
Centralia Pulp Mill, Centralia, Wisconsin (1891), A. B. Tower and N. M. Edwards
Shattuck and Babcock Paper Mill, De Pere, Wisconsin (1892)
Norman Paper Company Mill, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1892)
Montague Paper Company, Turners Falls, Massachusetts (1896) now known as Southworth Turners Falls Mill
William Cole Paper Mill, Putney, Vermont (c. 1897, rebuilt on site of Cole's previous mill), Joseph Wallace's first job, supervised by A. B. Tower
Fletcher Paper Company, Alpena, Michigan (1898)
James River Falls and Paper Mills, Richmond, Virginia (1899)
Oxford Paper Mills, Rumford, Maine (c. 1900), A. B. Tower; Tower & Wallace
Ste. Marie Pulp & Paper Co, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, (1900) A. B. Tower; Tower & Wallace
Rising Paper Mill, Housatonic, Massachusetts (c. 1900, expansion/reorganization)
Nekonegan Paper Mill, Old Town, Maine

Civic and commercial projects

Hinsdale Municipal Waterworks, Hinsdale, Massachusetts (1889)
Cavalry Cemetery, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1882), A. B. Tower
Egypt Reservoir Dam, Dalton, Massachusetts (1894), D. H. Tower
Hampden County Jail, Springfield, Massachusetts (1886, demolished c. 2011)
Deane Steam Pump Company, Holyoke, Massachusetts (c. 1890)
The Massasoit, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1891), A. B. Tower
Thomas Hill Standpipe, Bangor, Maine (1897), A. B. Tower; Tower & Wallace

Notes

Reported by one of their employees, at around the time of David Tower's retirement from the firm, 1893.

References

^ "William E. Hunt". History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut. Vol. III. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. 1918. p. 28. When twenty years of age he went to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he was employed for a year by A.B. and D.H. Tower, a prominent firm of architects, inventors and engineers, who employed a large office force of thirty-five men
^ Lockwood, John H.; Bagg, Ernest Newton; Carson, Walter S.; Riley, Herbert E.; Boltwood, Edward; Clark, Will L., eds. (1926). "Tower, David Horatio". Western Massachusetts, A History 1636-1925. Vol. IV. New York & Chicago: Lewis Historical Publishing, Inc. OCLC 988211712.
^ Tower, J.W. (1902). "Memoir of Ashley Bemis Tower". Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 49 (941): 361.
^ "Paper Mill Building, and Paper Mill Designers, Architects, and Builders". The Paper World. Vol. XXIV, no. 3. Springfield, Mass. March 1892. pp. 1–4.
^ "David H. Tower Dead" (PDF). New York Times. New York, NY. December 23, 1907.
^ "Death of David H. Tower; a Well-Known Mill Designer, Had Taken Charge of the Construction of Mills in All Parts of the World". Springfield Republican. December 23, 1907. p. 10.
"Emory Alexander Ellsworth". Journal of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. III (8): 480. October 1916. In 1879 Mr. Ellsworth left the firm of Davis & Ellsworth to become principal assistant and head draftsman for D. H. & A. B. Tower, of Holyoke, who were the largest firm of paper mill architects in the country at that time, and who designed no less than twenty paper mills in the city of Holyoke alone
^ Valente, AJ (2010). "II—Holyoke, City of Industry". Rag Paper Manufacture in the United States, 1801–1900. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 140–141. ISBN 9780786459971.
^ Warner, Charles F.; Johnson, Clifton, eds. (1891). Picturesque Hampden. Picturesque Massachusetts Series. Vol. Part II - West. Northampton, Mass.: Picturesque Publishing Company. pp. 1–152. OCLC 70679168.
^ Armstrong, G.M.S., ed. (1909). Pulp, paper, power. Philadelphia: Joseph H. Wallace & Co., Industrial Engineers. p. 5.
Heinrich, Thomas; Batchelor, Bob (2004). "Origins and Growth, 1872-1916". Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies: Kimberly-Clark and the Consumer Revolution in American Business. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 9780814209769.
"Western Massachusetts; Holyoke—The New Block of the Parsons Paper Company". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. February 14, 1874. p. 6.
^ Holyoke Water Power Company v. City of Holyoke, VI (MA Supreme Court 1900).
^ "Manufacturing and Technical". Engineering News-record. XXIII: 528. May 31, 1890. Six Hennessey Boilers, made by the B. F. Hawkins Iron Works, of Springfield, Mass., are showing remarkable results at the Kimberly & Clark paper mills, Appleton, Wis...The entire plant was designed by D. H. & A. B. Tower, of Holyoke, Mass.
Heinrich, Thomas; Batchelor, Bob (2004). "Origins and Growth, 1872-1916". Kotex, Kleenex, Huggies: Kimberly-Clark and the Consumer Revolution in American Business. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 9780814209769.
^ "Noted Paper Mill Builder- Death of Ashley B. Tower". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. July 11, 1901. p. 4.
Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directory. W.S. Loomis & Company. 1885. p. 11.
^ Wallace, Joseph H. (February 5, 1931). "An Old Timer's Reminiscences". Paper Trade Journal. 59: 66.
US 311212, Tower, Ashley B., "Machine for grinding pulp from wood", published 1885-01-27
^ "D. H. & A. B. Tower". Inland Massachusetts Illustrated. Springfield, Mass.: The Elstner Publishing Co. 1890. p. 126.
"Paper Making in Brazil". The Inland Printer. VII (3): 273. December 1889.
^ "Paper Trade Items". The Inland Printer. Vol. 4, no. 10. Chicago. July 1887. p. 701. D. H. & A. B. Tower, of Holyoke, are preparing plans for a paper mill, to be erected by Antonio C. Melchert, at Salto de Yutie, Brazil. The mill is designed for the manufacture of machine finished paper, and is to be run by water power
^ "The History of Paper in Brazil". Brazilian Pulp and Paper Association. 2007. Archived from the original on March 10, 2010. One of these undertakings, carried out by another baron, Barão de Piracicaba, in the region of the city of Itu (state of São Paulo), intended to create the proper conditions for the installation of industries, using the power produced by a waterfall from the Tiete River. This is the place where, in 1889, the company Melchert & Cia started to build a paper mill, Fábrica de Papel de Salto, that is still working nowadays. The mill has been modernized and it manufacturers special paper and it is one of the few paper mills in the world to manufacture paper for coining currency
^ Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1912). "Hardy, George Fiske". Who's Who in America. Vol. VII. p. 913.
Connolly, M. Caren; Wasserman, Louis (2010). Wisconsin's Own: Twenty Remarkable Homes. Wisconsin Historical Society. p. 73. Lacking funding from Alfred s father, Alfred and Havilah approached Franklyn C. Shattuck, a salesman, and Charles Clark, a Civil War veteran and hardware store owner, about combining financial resources. In 1872 the four put together $30,000 to start the paper company. A year later the group hired D. H. and A. B. Towers, architects and civil engineers, to retrofit the Reliance Mill and to build their mills in Appleton, De Pere, and Kimberly, Wisconsin. (The Towers brothers were widely regarded as the best paper mill designers in the world, having built mills across the United States and even in China. Their genius came from the fact they knew no two paper mills were alike: water power required a careful site analysis for the effective transmission of power, so each mill had to be designed to respond to the specific site.)
Mehren, Edward J; Meyer, Henry Coddington; Goodell, John M (January 12, 1907). "Changes in a Large Engineering Organization". The Engineering Record. 55: 43.
^ "D. H. Tower, the Paper King, dies". New Orleans Item. New Orleans, La.: Hearst News Service. December 23, 1907. SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 23.—David Horatio Tower, one of the greatest paper manufacturers in the world, is dead at his home in Dalton, aged 75
Hill, Robert G. "Hardy, George Fiske". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018.
Pulp and Paper Investigation Hearings. Vol. I. Washington: Government Printing Office (GPO). 1909.
International Joint Commission Hearings on the Reference by the United States and Canada in re Levels of the Lake of the Woods and its Tributary Waters and their Future Regulation and Control, being Final Hearings. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1916. pp. 391–397.
Duplisea, David R. (2008). Millinocket. Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9780738556543.
"Hardy S. Ferguson, Sr., Retired Engineer, Dies" (PDF). Herald Statesman. Yonkers, NY. July 7, 1956. p. 2.
"University and Educational News". Science. X (240): 160. August 4, 1899.
"D.P. Jones". Western Electrician. Vol. 28. May 18, 1901. p. 335.
Mehren, Edward J; Meyer, Henry Coddington; Goodell, John M (August 21, 1909). "Personal Notes". Engineering Record, Building Record, and Sanitary Engineer. 60: 45. Daniel P. Jones, who died in Niagara Falls, N. Y., on Aug. 12, was graduated from the engineering school at Dartmouth Collegein 1890 and two years later became superintendent of construction of the Niagara Falls Power Co., eventually rising to the position of first assistant engineer. In 1900 he became chief hydraulic engineer of the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Mfg. Co., and later he was in charge of the construction of the wheelpit and tunnel for the Canadian Niagara works
^ Wallace, Joseph H. (February 12, 1931). "An Old Timer's Reminiscences". Paper Trade Journal. 59: 19.
Wallace, Joseph H. (January 29, 1931). "An Old Timer's Reminiscences". Paper Trade Journal. 59: 34.
"Joseph H. Wallace". The Engineering Record. 48 (8): 220. August 22, 1903.
^ Egypt Reservoir Dam, Phase I Inspection Report (Report). National Dam Inspection Program, Army Corps of Engineers. pp. 1–3.
"Dalton". The Paper Trade Journal. Vol. XXIII, no. 45. Miller Freeman, Inc. November 10, 1894. p. 1063.
Child, Hamilton (1885). Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885. New York: Printed at the Journal Office. p. 78.
"Architect A.B. Tower...". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. February 24, 1886. p. 6. Architect A. B. Tower and Mrs Tower arrived from Europe Monday after a four-months' trip on the continent. Mr Tower combined business with pleasre and returned in excellent health.
^ Massachusetts of To-Day. Boston: Columbia Publishing Company. 1892. p. 404.
Allyn, George H. (1912). Thirtieth Anniversary Sketch, Holyoke Daily Transcript, 1882-1912. The Transcript Publishing Co. OCLC 24571746.
^ "Members Deceased During the Year: Ashley B. Tower". Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 22. American Society of Mechanical Engineers: 1156. 1901.
"Index-H". Journal of the Senate. Boston: Massachusetts General Court; Wright & Potter Printing Company, State Printers: 312. 1893. Highland Park Improvement Company, Petition of Ashley B. Tower and others for an act of incorporation as, 274; notice of reference by House to next General Court, 312
"Mr. Tower..." The American Architect. Vol. LXXIII, no. 1332. July 6, 1901. p. 18.
(Province), Québec (1901). "Ch. 111: An Act to authorize the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers to admit Ashley Bemis Tower as a member". Statutes of the Province of Quebec passed in the First Year of the Reign of His Majesty Edward the Seventh, and in the First Session of the Tenth Legislature. p. 463.
Mehren, Edward J.; Meyer, Henry Coddington; Goodell, John M. (July 13, 1901). "Personal and Obituary Notes". The Engineering Record. Vol. 44. p. 41. Ashley B. Tower, for many years the leading designer of paper mills in this country, died at Montclair, N. J., on July 8 from heat prostration...
Spector, Robert; Wicks, William W (1997). Shared values: a history of Kimberly-Clark. Greenwich Pub. Group. p. 191. ISBN 9780944641170. The mill complex is designed by A. B. Tower, whom John A. Kimberly calls "the prince of paper mill architects." Its first product is wrapping paper but it begins making newsprint two years later.
"Connecticut". The Paper Mill Directory of the World. Holyoke, Mass. and New York City: Clark W. Bryan & Co. 1884. p. 8.
HLY.9, MACRIS, Massachusetts Historical Commission.
"A Fine Connecticut Paper Mill; The New Building of C. H. Dexter & Sons at Windsor Locks". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. January 19, 1875. p. 6.
"Industrial- Holyoke, Mass". The American Architect. Vol. VII, no. 221. 1880. p. 124.
HLY.12, MACRIS, Massachusetts Historical Commission.
^ Historic Preservation Plan Update Report (PDF) (Report). Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, City of Holyoke. 2012. p. 134. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-04.
"Hampden County". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. August 10, 1882. p. 6. D. H. & A. B. Tower are drawing the plans for a single machine, six-tons' manilla paper mill for A. S. Newcomb & Co at High Falls, near Rondont, N. Y.
"The Glens Falls Paper Company Mill". Bennington Banner. Vol. XLIV, no. 47. Bennington, VT. December 18, 1884. p. 1.
"The Ticonderoga Branch of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad". Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. The Ticonderoga Pulp & Paper Company's plans for an additional mill was announced in 1884 when the Ticonderoga Sentinel stated ground breaking occurred on Monday, April 14. Mr. D. M. Arnold surveyed the site and laid out the work. Architects for the project were D. H. and A. B. Tower.
"Our Exchange, The Paper Trade of Brazil". The Paper Trade Review. VIII: 147. August 19, 1887.
Sache, Ivan (January 25, 2013). "About the Flag of Salto". Flags of the World. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. - municipal website ...Melchert & Cia, the first paper mill in South America, was established on the left bank of the Tietê in 1889
HLY.78, MACRIS, Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Tuthill, Paul. "City's Oldest Paper Mill Complex to Be Razed, Redeveloped". WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017.
Robert, Joseph C. (1983). Ethyl, A History of the Corporation and the People Who Made It. University Press of Virginia. p. 10.
Hall, Frank (1895). "Platt, James H.". History of Colorado. pp. 540–541.
"Denver's Great Paper Mill". The Educator. Vol. 1. 1891. p. 10.
"Miscellaneous". The Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. Vol. V, no. 25. John N. Gallagher. June 25, 1890. p. 370. At Madison, Somerset Co. Maine, a fifty-ton sulphate fibre mill will be erected. D. H. & A. B. Tower, Holyoke, Mass., are preparing the plans...
Buehler, J. Marshall (1987). "Part Two: LUMBER TO NEWSPRINT; Chapter Five: They Were Called Visionaries". The Nekoosa Story. Nekoosa Papers Inc. p. 22. Immediately, two consulting civil engineers were engaged to develop plans for the new mill, Captain A. B. Towers of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and N. M. Edwards of Appleton, Wisconsin...Captain Towers further told the Wood County Reporter, 'The water power here is amongst the finest in the United States.'
"Property Record: 200 Main Ave". Wisconsin Historical Society. January 2012. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018.
"United States". The World's Paper Trade Review. Vol. XXIV. July 12, 1895. p. 63. Mr. A. B. Tower, Holyoke, Mass., has prepared plans for the new paper mill to be erectted at Turner's Falls, Mass, and the organisation of the company has been effected. The officers are: President, Mr. Porter Farwell, superintendent of the Montague Paper Company; treasurer, Mr. Frank J. Marshall; clerk, Dr. E. G. Best; superintendent, Mr. George H. Marshall. These, with Mr. W. D. Russell, treasurer of the Montague Paper Company, constitute the board of directors. A charter has been procured from the State, and the erection of the factory on the vacant lot just south of the Keith Mill will begin soon. The lot is 240 feet long and 164 feet wide, and is an excellent mill site. It is planned to have a two machine mill, and three different specialties will be manufactured.
"Paper and Pulp Men Meet". The New England Stationer and Printer. Vol. 12. Springfield, Mass. March 1898. p. 15. Porter Farwell, Montague Paper Company, Turners Falls, Mass.
"Fletcher Paper Company". Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018.
"Business Buildings". The Engineering Record. 39: 509. April 29, 1899. Richmond, Va.—F. C. Christian of 1,113 E. Main St., has secured contract from the Kanawha Construction Co. for the erection of the James River Falls Paper and Pulp Mills; cost $100,000. Archt., Ashley B. Tower of N. Y. City.
Hill, Robert G. "Tower, Ashley Bemis". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018.
Baker, Moses Nelson, ed. (1889–1890). "Massachusetts". The Manual of American Water-works. Vol. II. New York: Engineer News Publishing Co. p. 57.
Copeland, Alfred Minot, ed. (1902). "The City of Holyoke and the Factors in its History". "Our county and its people" : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Vol. III. The Century Memorial Publishing Company. p. 86. OCLC 5692695963.
SPR.186, MACRIS, Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Copeland, Alfred Minot, ed. (1902). "The City of Holyoke and the Factors in its History". "Our county and its people" : A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Vol. I. The Century Memorial Publishing Company. pp. 123–124. OCLC 5692695963.
HLY.15, MACRIS, Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Dickey, John L. (1971). Holyoke: An Architectural Perspective. Centennial Committee of the City of Holyoke. p. 80.

External links

External videos
ALBION - The Last Great Paper Mill, photographer Robbie Maynard documents ruins and demolition of the former oldest paper mill in Holyoke by the Tower Bros.

Flatiron Building, Holyoke, Mass, Lost New England; not designed by D. H. & A. B. Tower, but location of their former offices

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