The waters of the Suncook River were harnessed in the 1730’s, eventually powering saw and grist mills, forge shops, and paper mills. The first cotton factory here, owned by Major Caleb Stark, was built in 1811. By 1900, Pembroke Mill, Webster Mill, and China Mill employed more than 1,500 workers, mostly recruited from the Province of Quebec, to make 35 million yards of cotton cloth each year. Suncook's commercial center, built of native brick and granite, attained its present appearance by 1886, and it is one of the best-preserved small manufacturing villages in New Hampshire.