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The Sibley Mill is a historic building located on the Augusta Canal at 1717 Goodrich Street near downtown Augusta, Georgia. Designed by Jones S. Davis, it was built on a site previously occupied by the Confederate Powderworks, and was completed in 1882. While the interior is typical of any textile mill of the period, its imposing exterior is notable for an ornate style variously described as eclectic and neo-gothic. Textile products were produced there until 2006, since when the building has been unoccupied. The mill was built to operate on hydropower, and continues to generate electricity today. ==Construction== The Augusta Canal was greatly enlarged in 1875 in order to promote industrial development (Cashin, 136-144). After the successful opening of the Enterprise Mill in 1878, the Sibley Manufacturing Company was chartered in 1880. Jones S. Davis, the superintendent and architect of the Enterprise, was hired to organize the new mill. He soon produced drawings of a 528 feet long, three story, 24,000 spindle factory with highly ornamental architecture. Funding was raised from investors in Augusta, Savannah, Charleston, New York, and Cincinnati, Ohio (HAER, 2). Named after the cotton broker, businessman, and civic leader Josiah Sibley, the mill was located at the former site of the Confederate Powderworks refinery building. Half a million bricks from the old Powderworks were bought for the new project at the price of five dollars per thousand, and the Augusta City Council allowed a capacity of up to 2,000 horsepower at an annual water rate of $5.50 per horsepower. Josiah's son, William C. Sibley was elected President of the new company, and construction began around June 1, 1880 with Jones S. Davis as supervisor (HAER, 3). A fourth story was added during construction, which along with other changes raised the cost estimate from $730,313.08 to $788,452.82. William Sibley's daughter Pearl, who had laid the "corner brick" during a ceremony on 13 October 1880, also laid the last brick January 27, 1882. Water was let into the wheel pit during a grand opening celebration held on 22 February 1882 (HAER, 4). In April, 1882, capital stock was raised to $1,000,000 to cover the finished cost, including 30 tenements for mill workers (HAER, 7). The mill was originally built to run on hydropower, transmitted from water turbines throughout the building by mechanical shafting. The wheel pit was large enough to accommodate twice the capacity required to run the mill. In 1977, three water driven generators were observed with a combined capacity of 2625 kVA (HAER, 6-7). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sibley Mill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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