Samuel Slater’s Mill, c. 1790 This eighteenth-century painting by an unknown American artist depicts the first cotton mill built in the United States. Constructed by Samuel Slater on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the mill stands next to a waterfall, which supplies the power to run the machinery. While portraying a major industrial innovation, the artist highlights its pastoral setting.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA/Bridgeman Images