The mill's founder Samuel Slater apprenticed as a young man with industrialist Jedediah Strutt in Belper, England. Shortly after emigrating to the United States, Slater was hired by Moses Brown of Providence, Rhode Island to produce a working set of machines necessary to spin cotton yarn using water power.
Samuel Slater, the founder of the mill, began his career as an apprentice under industrialist Jedediah Strutt in Belper, England. After moving to the United States, he was hired by Moses Brown of Providence, Rhode Island to create a working set of machines for spinning cotton yarn using water power.