Since its settlement when it was still part of Mason, Greenville has run on water power.

Specifically, it owes its start to the Souhegan River.

From the very first resident of what was once Mason Village, settlers have looked to the river as a source of power. The first settler in the area, Amos Dakin, owned and operated a saw-and-grist mill that had been built on the Souhegan. Another early mill was a saw-and-grist mill built in the mid-1760s by Thomas Barrett and his brother, Charles Barrett.

The Souhegan and its upper falls helped to shape the industry of the town.

The river and the mills were so influential, in fact, that Greenville was almost named for them. Before officially becoming Greenville, the area was alternatively called Barrett's Mills, Dakin’s Mills, Mason Harbor, Souhegan Village and Mason Village.

By 1788, the first dam was built on the river, and small mills began to pop up, making the tools necessary for settlement -- scythes, axes, fabric, tinware, bricks and grist mills for grinding corn and wheat.

Two of the major industries, who went on to have long histories in Greenville, were the Chamberlin Mill and Columbian Manufacturing Company.

Colombian Manufacturing was first incorporated as Remsen Manufacturing by Silas Bullard in 1826, but after less than a year, changed the name to Columbian. The company built its first mill in 1829, which was operational by 1830.

That first mill, which produced cotton fabrics, operated 64 looms. Business was booming, but the next step would open a whole new, easier way to reach large markets of customers – the railroad.

The Peterborough and Shirley branch was built through Greenville in 1850. Originally, the line was supposed to end in Peterborough, connecting to Massachusetts, but the line ran out of money before construction was complete, and had to settle for a last stop in Greenville (Mason, at the time).

The railroad built a bridge in 1850 and 1851 for a cost of $17,000. It was 97 feet high and 611 feet long, making it the longest and tallest bridge in the state at the time. The bridge, originally built of wood, burned to the ground in 1907, catching fire from the burning coals that powered the trains, and a new, steel bridge was built in 1908 that stayed in place until 1984, when it was dismantled.

The construction of the railroad brought a business boom to town. So much so that Columbian Manufacturing built a new mill on the site of the old Dakin Mills housing a further 96 looms. By 1885, Columbian Mills was boasting 566 employees and 568 looms.

After the construction of the railroad, another local company rose to prominence – the Chamberlin Mill. Built in the 1850s by James L. Chamberlin, the mill included a grist for grinding flour, grain, meal and feed, and another section for the manufacture of furniture.

Furniture remains the Chamberlin Mill legacy, with many surviving pieces still in Greenville homes today. The mill manufactured black walnut, chestnut and ash chamber sets, tables, center tables, bookcases and chairs.

The furniture side of the business continued until Chamberlin’s death, but the mill carried on, with the grist portion remaining in operation under O.D. Prescott until 1902.

After Chamberlin’s death, the mill was used by the Greenville Chair Shop and the Greenville Chair Company in the early 1900s, and as a furniture and chair manufacturer by Blanchard & Gould, Blanchard & Son and Blanchard & Co. There was a stretch of time when the mill was vacant, from 1922 to 1942, but it eventually found other industrial uses, including as a leather manufacturer.

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