Quick History Stops: Manchaug Village Historic District, MA

On the same day I visited Sutton Center Historic District, I drove down the road to Manchaug Village Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. Part of the town of Sutton, MA, its time as a mill village lasted between 1826 and 1921, much like other village in the Blackstone River Valley. Besides a historic mill, cute post office, former mill store, beautiful mansion, and a unique church, Manchaug is home to Vaillancourt Folk Art, a rare chalkware shop where collectables are made onsite. Much of my research on this are came from the 1999 Sutton Comprehensive Survey Data Sheet, which you can access on Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MCRIS).

A plaque near the water described life in Manchaug in its heyday during the 1860s: three granite mills with over 500 workers total, a post office, library, four stores, public school, parochial school, hotel, and three churches. It was always a small town, perhaps one trying to pretend it was a bigger town. This leads to some difficulties during research, as what is called “Manchaug Road” on modern maps was known as “Main Street” in town documentation. The tiny post office with its distinct Mansard style roof was built between 1870 and 1878 and originally contained the Manchaug Mills Office as well. Number 2 Mill originally stood behind the post office but was torn down around 1938. Near the post office is the former Mill Store & Community Hall at 356 Manchaug Road, which was built of stone around 1868 with Italianate-inspired features. It is now home to District V House, an interior design store. The former Mill Agent’s House at 447 Putnam Hill Road, painted bright pink at the time of my visit, was built the same year as the mill store in 1868 but has the same Mansard design as the post office.

The large mill building located at 9 Main Street was originally known Number 1 Mill but is now called Manchaug Mills. The granite mill was built in the Italianate style beginning in 1826 and expanded multiple times. The most prominent feature of this mill is its five-story belltower which rises high above all other buildings in the village. The main section of the building is four stories tall, while an addition that once served as a weave-shed is three stories tall. The mill was originally powered by water. The mill pond still exists today; visitors cross it while taking the bridge between the post office and the mill store.

Many small businesses rent space inside the mill. The most famous is Vaillancourt Folk Art founded in 1984 by Gary and Judi Vaillancourt. Judi used antique chocolate molds to press a chalk-based plaster into whimsical shapes and painted them by hand. In only a few years, her art became widely known by folk art collectors. Business-savvy Gary promoted his wife’s work, which would grow into contracts with museums including Winterthur, Colonial Williamsburg, and Old Sturbridge Village, along with department stores like Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The company came to Manchaug Mills in 2010, which allowed them to maintain a studio space for many talented artists along with a retail gallery. Chalkware is generally out of my price point. Even the most affordable pieces cost over $100, while an exclusive Santa was $9,500, which made me a little nervous to go near it. My favorite part of the experience was the small museum at the back of the retail area showing one of every kind of chalkware created by Vaillancourt. The women running the shop were extremely friendly and welcome anyone to visit, including children and service animals.

On the second floor of the building was a small area dedicated tot he history of Manchaug. A vintage diorama included lights to show which properties had been owned by the Mill Conglomerate before the 1927 auction that sold the properties and ended the hope of revitalizing the business. Other memorials to the past stood outside on the John Mateychuk Common, named for a man killed in action during World War II, and next to the pond. These included a war memorial, a cannon, and a plaque with a quote from my favorite president, Calvin Coolidge, describing how people must remember their history. I hope this post contributes to Calvin’s command.

Right before I left Manchaug, I made one last stop at St. John’s Anglican Church. I actually got to speak with the pastor who told me why this congregation is unique. Congregants speak both English and Kikuyu (some linguists spell it Gĩkũyũ), part of a massive language group that includes widely spoken Swahili. This building was formerly known as St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church and constructed of red brick in the Colonial Revival style in 1952. The matching rectory next door was built at the same time. This was the second variation of the St. Anne’s building. The first was built in 1883 by parishioners of St. Denis Catholic Church in nearby Douglas, MA but destroyed by fire in 1924. This parish closed in 2013, and parishioners instead attended St. Mark’s Parish in nearby Sutton Center.