library. A dairy farm and nearby woodlands were also part of the mill operation. Atwood quadrupled the size of the factory, adding the south mill of the front block in 1859 and the entire rear block in 1867-68. The mill's labor force was around 750 people, with most living within the village. The mill would eventually reach a capacity of 56,616 spindles and 1,464 looms, with an annual output of eleven million yards. When James S. Atwood died, management of Wauregan Mills was passed on to his twin sons, James Arthur and John Walter Atwood. The Atwood brothers continued to expand and improve the mill, which employed 325 men and 160 women and children as of 1917. The Atwood brothers successfully responded to the competition of the newer, steam-powered mills by producing finer quality cotton goods such as shirting for the U.S. Marine Corps, and later rayon, instead of the traditional cotton sheeting. Wauregan Mills had a close working relationship with DuPont and was one of the pioneers of synthetic fabric. This partnership led to the development of the technology to produce fabric made of a blend of wool and rayon. In contrast to many larger, corporate-owned mills that were wedded to a particular product, the economic organization of Wauregan Mills enabled its owner/managers to easily diversify and change its product mix to meet new demands resulting from competition from newer textile centers, allowing them to stay profitable through World War II, much longer than many other larger mills. After World War II, Wauregan Mills entered a period of decline from which it never recovered. In the 1950s, free trade policies with Japan, which had modern equipment shipped to them by the U.S. as part of post-war reconstruction enabling them to produce fine cotton goods much more cheaply, resulted in the death of the New England textile industry as cheap cotton goods flooded the U.S. market. Wauregan Mills tried to emphasize their capabilities in synthetic blend output and also to reduce labor costs by negotiating with the labor unions to eliminate certain fringe benefits. In August 1955, torrential rains from Hurricanes Connie and Diane caused many dams along the Quinebaug River to break, including the one at Wauregan. The mill was flooded to the level of the first floor ceilings. Workers tried to salvage as much cloth, raw materials and machinery as they could but ultimately the company lost more