Before Ruth ever set foot in Glencoe, she was a New England girl. Housatonic, Massachusetts, is Ruth's hometown, and Monument Mills was the mill that shaped the world she knew before her journey south. Monument Mills was a major New England textile mill complex on the Housatonic River, producing cotton fabric, thread, blankets, and quilts from 1850 until it closed in 1955. At its height in the 1930's, it employed roughly 500 workers across five mill buildings. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the mill buildings still today line both banks of the river in the village of Housatonic, housing artists' studios and small businesses, giving visitors a chance to walk through the same brick complex that anchored Ruth's hometown. The original power house currently serves as a backdrop for film and video shoots.