The Ethan Allen factory has changed over time because of the purpose the different buildings served. For example, at first the location of Ethan Allen was a warehouse. People used it to store belongings. After the warehouse, there was a shoe factory where people worked to manufacture many different types of shoes. The factory had two great purposes: it gave jobs to the people of Orleans and sold shoes, which brought people into the village. Those people ended up settling here, which in a way made the village of Orleans. Finally, the furniture factory we know today, Ethan Allen, was built in 1953. They started to build and sell furniture, giving more jobs to the people of Orleans and the surrounding area and bringing in more residents to buy homes. When the shoe factory changed to Ethan Allen, it was put under new management. In the end, the village of Orleans would not be the same without Ethan Allen and the shoe mill.
A photograph of the Chandler Mill that was there before Ethan Allen
The mill used to use the river for lots of things, but it was dangerous when it flooded, like in the photo above.