Spinning Room, Oregon City Woolen Mills - 1918

Wool that has been repeatedly carded is called roving. Loosely wound on spools it becomes the input for spinning. In the spinning process the roving is stretched and twisted to make thread. Here we see several rows of "spinning mules", machinery invented in 1779 that eventually replaced most of the cottage industry of spinning wheels.

An early part of the industrial revolution, theses spinning machines inspired the Luddite riots of the early 1800s, which protested the replacement of skilled fabric artisans with low-paid factory workers..

-- This photo is restored and printed by Old Oregon.