Merrimack Manufacturing Company of Lowell, Massachusetts, opened its textile mill in Huntsville on July 9, 1900, and the first of the village houses, built by the mill for its employees, were completed about the same time. By 1903, a second mill had been constructed and the mill village had become a bustling, self-sufficient community with its own school, hospital and cemetery. In 1913, the Merrimack Mill company decided its employees needed a company store. Merrimack Mill Company acquired a two-story wooden building constructed in 1890. The downstairs housed the company store, with the upstairs used as a classroom for the village children. In 1920, the company incorporated this structure into the construction of a 25,000 square foot, two-story brick building to serve as a community center. When Merrimack Hall opened, tenants on the lower floor of the building included the Merrimack Drug Company, two barbershops, McClure Brothers grocery store, a bicycle repair shop and a café. The upstairs of Merrimack Hall includes a gymnasium, used by students at Joe Bradley School for their physical education classes and two large spaces used for meetings, organizations and lodges such as the Woodmen of the World, and other community and recreational events.

The Merrimack Mills proved to be vital to Huntsville’s economic and population growth, eventually employing over 1,600 people. Today, 297 houses, mostly identical two-story duplexes, and Merrimack Hall are all that remains of this important part of Huntsville’s history. The restoration and renovation of Merrimack Hall will mark the beginning of the revitalization of this once thriving area.