Stillwater Mill in Smithfield, Rhode Island, developed from an early nineteenth-century cotton mill and worker housing into a small but distinctive mill village shaped by industry, waterpower, and transportation. Industrial use began in 1824 under Israel and Welcome Arnold, and a major expansion followed in 1866 with a woolen mill that was rebuilt larger after a fire in 1872. The village remained compact even as it became known as a model mill community, aided by rail service beginning in 1873. After later textile-era ownership changes, industrial decline and a 1984 fire reduced the site, which was donated in 2009 for preservation as a scenic and historically important public resource.