>> GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO CONNECTING POINT, I'M JIM
MADIGAN.
TIME TO GO OFF THE BEATEN PATH.
THIS TIME WE'RE LOOKING AT PLACE CALLED SKINNERVILLE, THAT NO
LONGER EXISTS COURTESY OF THE PRODUCER DAVE FRASER.
>> ROUTE 9 FROM NORTHAMPTON, YOU COME THROUGH FLORENCE AND TO THE
WILLIAMS WERG TOWN -- TOWN LINE AND YOU ENTER INTO THE DOUGWAY,
AN ENGINEERING FEAT IN 1828.
AND ONCE YOU REACHED THE END OF THE DOUGWAY, THAT'S THE
BEGINNING OF SKINNERVILLE.
WILLIAM SKINNER CAME HERE WHEN HE WAS 21 IN 1845.
HE PROBABLY DIDN'T HAVE MORE THAN A FEW IN HIS POCKET BUT HE
HAD A MILLION DOLLARS IN HIS BRAIN BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY
ONE IN AMERICA THAT UNDERSTOOD THE SECRET CHEMISTRY OF DYING
SILK.
BESIDES THAT HE WAS TALL, HANDSOME, AND CHARISMATIC.
HE CALLED HIS MILL THE SILK MILL BECAUSE HE WANTED TO HAVE
AMERICAN SILK RECOGNIZED AS BEING COMPETITIVE ON THE WORLD
MARKET.
THERE WERE BOARDING HOUSES AND GIRLS CAME FROM FAR AND WIDE TO
WORK IN THE SILK MILL.
THEY NEEDED THE DEXTERITY OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE EMPLOYED
TO MANAGE THE ENDS OF THE FIBERS OF SILK.
MANY OF HIS EMPLOYEES WERE WILLIAMSBURG PEOPLE WHO WERE
LIVING IN HOUSES THAT HE OWNED OR HAD PROVIDED FOR THEM.
SOME OF THOSE EMPLOYEES' CHILDREN WERE WORKING AT THE
MILL AS EARLY AS EIGHT AND 12 YEARS OLD.
SATURDAY MAY 16, 1874, THE RESERVOIR FAILED AND THREE
QUARTERS OF A BILLION GALLONS OF WATER RA RELEASED.
SKINNER PULLED HIMSELF UP THE EMBANKMENT OF THE RAILROAD
TRACKS.
HE LOOKED BACK AND EVERYTHING WAS GONE.
IT JUST WAS SWEPT AWAY, HARDLY A BREADTH OF ALL OF HIS MILL
COMPLEX.
AT THE TIME OF THE DISASTER THERE WAS A SCHOOL RIGHT IN THIS
AREA JUST ABOVE THE BRIDGE THAT WAS WASHED AWAY AND JUST BELOW
THE BRIDGE THERE WAS A BOARDING HOUSE THAT WAS ALSO WASHED AWAY.
THE HOUSES ON THE -- ON THIS SIDE OF THE RIVER WERE HIGH
ENOUGH THAT THEY WERE NOT DAMAGED MUCH IF AT ALL, BUT THE
WATER ON THAT SIDE OF THE RIVER WAS UP OVER THE WINDOW SILLS ON
THE HOUSES.
IF YOU CAN IMAGINE 750 MILLION GALLONS OF WATER
PASSING THIS STATIC POINT IN 15 MINUTES, IT WAS VERY
DESTRUCTIVE.
THE POWER OF FLOWING WATER IS JUST AMAZING.
>> SKINNER WENT TO HOLYOKE AND BUILT THE LARGEST SILK MILL
UNDER ONE ROOF IN AMERICA, AND WHEN HE DIED ABOUT 1912, HE WAS
A BILLIONAIRE IN TODAY'S MONEY.
HIS HOME HERE IN SKINNERVILLE AFTER THE DISASTER WAS MOVED TO
HOLYOKE, AND IS A MUSEUM.
FINDING THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY, CULTURE, INDUSTRY, THE
CHANGE IN MENTALITY WITH ALL OF THESE OTHER CHANGES IS
ENTHRALLING TO ME, AND REALLY IF WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE CAME
FROM, HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING.