Amill town, also known asfactory town ormill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or moremills or factories, oftencotton mills or factories producing textiles.

• Crespi d'Adda,UNESCO World Heritage Site^[1]
• Nuovo quartiere operaio inSchio
• Villaggio Leumann aCollegno^[2]
• Villaggio Frua inSaronno^[3]
• Villaggio operaio della Filatura inTollegno^[4]

The town grew out of a textile factory founded in 1833 by the sons ofFeliks Lubienski, who owned the land where it was built. They brought in a specialist from France and his newly designed machines. He was French inventor,Philippe de Girard fromLourmarin. He became a director of the firm.^[5] The factory town developed during the 19th century into a significanttextile mill town inPoland.In honour of Girard, 'Ruda Guzowska' as the original estate was called, was renamedŻyrardów, a toponym derived of thepolonised spelling of Girard's name.

Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only entire urban industrial complex from the 19th-century to be preserved in Europe.

• Bogorodsk-Glukhovo factory
• Nikolskoye, Vladimir Governorate

In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" usually refers to the 19th-centurytextile manufacturing towns ofnorthern England and theScottish Lowlands, particularly those inLancashire (cotton) andYorkshire (wool).

Some former mill towns have a symbol of thetextile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g.Colne^[6]) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g.Ossett School).

The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry inWigan andLeigh in Greater Manchester, and inOssett in Yorkshire.

On his tour ofnorthern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:

In general, these towns wear a monotonous sameness of aspect, physical and moral ... In fact, the social condition of the different town populations is almost as much alike as the material appearance of the tall chimneys under which they live. Here and there the height of the latter may differ by a few rounds of brick, but in all essential respects, a description of one is a description of all.^[8]

— Angus Reach,Morning Chronicle, 1849

Beginning withSamuel Slater and technological information smuggled out of England byFrancis Cabot Lowell, large mills were established inNew England in the early to mid-19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as acompany town, grew in the shadow of the industries. The region became a manufacturing powerhouse along rivers like theHousatonic,Quinebaug,Shetucket,Blackstone,Merrimack,Nashua,Cocheco,Saco,Androscoggin,Kennebec orWinooski.

In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, theGreat Depression acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.

• 
  Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT, in 1909
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  American Thread Co. Mill, Willimantic, CT, c. 1910
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  Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, Waterville, ME, c. 1920
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  Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME, c. 1902
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  Mill Street, Attleboro, MA, in 1908
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  Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA, in 1907
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  Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA, c. 1905
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  Amoskeag Mills, Manchester, NH, c. 1912
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  Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH, in 1907
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  Alice Mills, Woonsocket, RI, in 1911
• 
  Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT, in 1907

• 
  Model Mill Settlement, Chadwick Mills, Charlotte, N.C. Published c. 1905–1915
• 
  White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C. c. 1914
• 
  Aerial view of Ware Shoals Mill

• San José de Suaita

• Company town
• Industrial district
• Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
• Old Great Falls Historic District, Paterson, NJ

• Company towns
• Industrial Revolution
• History of the textile industry
• Communities by industry

• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2019