The Hazard Family Letters 1832-1950
1906 Embossed Postal Stationary - Peace Dale MFG. Co
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Peace Dale, RI - August 21, 1906 Cancellation (Dead Post Office - DPO)

The Peace Dale Manufacturing Company was a woolen mill built on the Saugatucket River in Peace Dale, Rhode Island. It was the centerpiece of the Hazard Family fortunes from 1802 to 1918. The family also owned several other mills, including the Carolina Mills named for Roland G. Hazards wife, Caroline.  (See: Carolina Mills). 

Roland Hazard, Sr. bought a half interest in the mill in 1802 and in 1805 acquired a carding machine. The business was originally called the Narragansett Cotton Manufacturing Company. Roland's oldest son Isaac Peace Hazard, (See: 1843 Isaac P. Hazard Letter & Bio) entered the business and in 1813 the company acquired one of the very first power looms ever to be operated in the United States.

In 1819 Roland retired and turned over the operation of the mill to Isaac and Rowland Gibson Hazard, (SEE: 1840 Roland G. Hazard Letter & Bio) who originally operated the firm as I. P. & R. G. Co. After Joseph Peace Hazard, (SEE: 1823 Joseph P. Hazard letter & Bio) joined the firm in 1828 the company became R. G. Hazard & Co.  

The family business was incorporated as the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company in 1848 with Isaac acting as president and Roland acting as secretary/treasurer. With the loss of the "Course Cloth" markets in the south after the Civil War and several fires to the mill buildings; the company ventured into new territory. They constructed a new weaving building in 1882 and began the production of woolen shawls and cassimeres.

Roland Hazard II assumed the reigns of the company in 1898, but by the turn of the century; the company's business had begun to decline. There was a brief resurgence of the company's fortunes as demand increased during World War I, however this was short-lived. After Roland II died in 1918, the company was sold to M. T. Stevens & Sons Co. who closed the mill in 1947 and sold it to a Rockingham, North Carolina company in 1951.