The Lowell Textile Mills The Lowell Textile Mills represented a new transition in American history that explored work and working conditions in America's new industrial plants. Describing the Lowell Textile mills requires a look back into history to study, discover, and gain knowledge of the industrial labor and factory systems of industrial America. These mass production plants looked quite promising at first, but after years of operation they showed multiple problems and setbacks to those involved. The Lowell mills were located in Lowell, Massachusetts and specialized in the production of cotton fabrics. The strong currents coming from the surrounding waterways powered the mill machinery. In most cases, a paper mill was the largest employer in a community and the mill owners often had other commercial investments in the neighborhood such as general stores, real estate, and residential properties (Inventing America p.391). Finding workers for Lowell was no easy task. a problem. Workers were attracted to the great cultural opportunities available in Lowell. “Beyond the obvious attraction of a workplace, people saw the factories as a grand social experiment, with moral gyms where employees not only earned wages but also experienced moral and spiritual growth” (Inventing America p394). The Lowell mills sought to base their production differently than in Europe. The workers of European manufacturing cities were notoriously of the lowest character in intelligence and morals (Lucy Larcom: Among Lowell Mills Girls). Lowell wanted to give workers the opportunity to make great friendships and enjoy a fulfilling church life. The establishments were filled with girls from smaller towns who had good country morals and stayed away from unpleasant urban conditions. These workers were given the name Mills Girls. By 1836, Lowell boasted twenty factories with 6,000 workers: 85% of Lowell's workforce consisted of single women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine (Inventing America p.394). In the early years, while profits were high, working conditions seemed promising to the factory girls in their initial brief experiences of factory work. The jobs required little skill because the machinery was mostly self-propelled. At first it seemed very pleasant, the rooms were so bright and spacious and clean, the girls so pretty and well dressed, and the machinery so polished or well painted (Harriet Farley, Letters from Susan, Letter Second).