Freeman’s News Boys on Front Street

A newspaper description of of the businesses of 1836:

“Eight dry-goods stores, two drug stores, two groceries, one hat store, one clothing store, four tailors’ shops, one milliner’s shop, three shoe shops, one book store, one book-bindery, one printing office, four blacksmiths’ shops, two tin shops, two cabinet shops, one pump shop, two paper mills, one flouring mill, two saw mills, one oil mill, one tilt-hammer, ax and scythe factory, one woolen mill, one stone saw mill, one planing mill, one chair factory, one foundry, one engine and machine shop, and sundry other smaller works,” placing the amount of goods sold during the year at $407,000 and the sales of real estate at $200,000.

The panic of 1837, however, added to the prospective loss of one-half, or more, of its water-power which was a severe blow to the towns growth. Value of real estate rapidly diminished, mercantile’s closed and the general effects of the panic were harshly felt in the Falls.