The village of Salmon Falls was founded in 1823 by a group of local investors led by James Rundlet of Portsmouth, who on June 17, 1822 incorporated the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company to manufacture woolen cloth using the power of the Salmon Falls River, a Piscataqua River tributary.
After an 1834 fire destroyed the first factory built there, the company's Portsmouth-based investors built a new factory for cotton manufacturing, eventually selling the corporation to their Boston-based cotton broker Mason and Lawrence in the 1840s.
As part of their expansion, the town was laid out in an easy-to-navigate grid plan, with the three-story boarding houses and an adjoining mill building made of brick to withstand fires.
Two-story brick double houses were also built to accommodate the families of the overseers.
The town thrived into the first decades of the 20th century and eventually became home to many immigrant families whose forebears came to work in the mills.
Although the town planners originally forbade the mill workers to drink alcohol and required that they attend church on Sunday, during Prohibition, its proximity to temperate Maine and the Boston & Maine Railroad line led to the establishment of numerous bars and a relatively short-lived but racy reputation for free-flowing liquor.

The New England cotton industry would fade in the early to mid-20th century, but would leave the brick town intact.
Today, the mills have been reborn as low-cost studio space for more than 100 artists and artisans who use the converted studios for everything from painting, sculpting and crafting handmade furniture to teaching and practicing yoga and dance.
The village of Salmon Falls was founded in 1823 by a group of local investors led by James Rundlet of Portsmouth, who on June 17, 1822 incorporated the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company to manufacture woolen cloth using the power of the Salmon Falls River, a Piscataqua River tributary. After an 1834 fire destroyed the first factory built there, the company's Portsmouth-based investors built a new factory for cotton manufacturing, eventually selling the corporation to their Boston-based cotton broker Mason and Lawrence in the 1840s. As part of their expansion, the town was laid out in an easy-to-navigate grid plan, with the three-story boarding houses and an adjoining mill building made of brick to withstand fires. Two-story brick double houses were also built to accommodate the families of the overseers. The town thrived into the first decades of the 20th century and eventually became home to many immigrant families whose forebears came to work in the mills. Although the town planners originally forbade the mill workers to drink alcohol and required that they attend church on Sunday, during Prohibition, its proximity to temperate Maine and the Boston & Maine Railroad line led to the establishment of numerous bars and a relatively short-lived but racy reputation for free-flowing liquor.
The New England cotton industry would fade in the early to mid-20th century, but would leave the brick town intact. Today, the mills have been reborn as low-cost studio space for more than 100 artists and artisans who use the converted studios for everything from painting, sculpting and crafting handmade furniture to teaching and practicing yoga and dance.
Rollinsford, New Hampshire