HISTORY

The Cotton Mills Was An Industrial Site That Started Life As A Jute Factory In 1875 In The Three Storey Structure That Stands On The Corner Of Maribyrnong St & Parker St In Footscray.  From 1906-1939 The Site Was Occupied By Barnett Glass & Rubber Works, The First Producers Of Rubber And Rubberised Clothing In Australia. During The 1920s The Company Commissioned Architect Joseph Plottel To Expand The Site.  The Single Structure Was Extended From Maribyrnong St Through To Moreland St.

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Bradford CottonMills purchased the complex in 1939 and became one of Footscray’s largest employers during World War II. The company changed their name to Bradmill Industries in 1968 and assumed control of the Davies Coop cotton mills in Yarraville in the late 1970s. They gradually moved their operations to the Yarraville location.  

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In 2000 the Lonely Planet Publishers moved their operations into the original jute factory site. The remaining buildings were subdivided into smaller individual spaces thus transforming the historic site into its present incarnation as a thriving creative hub.