Fontaine-Daniel is a French village located in the department of Mayenne. He is located at 5 km in the western south of the town of Mayenne in the wood of Salair away from the main roads of circulation. It is a working village born from the textile activity whose organization and architecture are remarkable. The locality Fontaine Daniel finds his origin in the construction of a founded Cistercian abbey in 1205 by the lord of Mayenne Juhel III. This abbey was equipped with a church, destroyed with the Revolution, size of the Saint Julien Cathedral of Mans.

The textile activity which begins in 1806, will be the cause of the creation of the village around the abbey, with the construction of collective housing units, then of houses, all out of local stone.

Sold like national good in 1796, the abbey becomes in 1806 the property of Pierre Horem and Sophie Lewille, widow of Louis Biarez: these Parisian industrialists of the textile coveted the vast buildings of the abbey to establish a spinning mill there. They see all the advantage of the place: the driving force of water and vast buildings of the abbey ready to receive the first mechanical spinning mill of the area.heir company develops: 560 blue-collar workers in 1810 and 760 in 1812. To the death of Pierre Horem (1828) his Sensitive wife Armfield (girl of Thomas) directs only the company.

In 1830, Martin Denis marries Elisabeth Louise Armfield and reaches the direction of the family business. Martin Denis makes increase the workshops and build collective housing units to place his blue-collar workers (starting from 1832) .His son, Gustave Denis makes build a school (“It was socially avant-gardist. He created a school and made the compulsory schooling up to 14 years, well before Jules Ferry”) and a bakery (1862).

Georges Denis and Paul Denis make build new stone buildings of the Countries served in 1898-1900 on two levels by reinforced concrete gangways. In 1925, the first joint houses appear. To the small buildings of 2 or 3 stages, built out of local stone, came to be added the houses, at the 20th century, drawn by Jean Denis then by Bruno, his son. A vault, also drawn by Jean Denis and devoted to Saint-Michel, was built in 1939 on the rock, in overhang of the pond of the village. The houses and the buildings designed by the successive leaders of the company since the origin until 1975 for most recent, have all their working gardens and the streets have other names only that of the flowers or animals which populate foliations.

Today, the school closed. The company and the village restricted their activity, but one like the other continue their history, with a relative serenity, in the middle of the large trees. The community of the inhabitants is also dynamic and organizes itself to maintain the village accessible and pleasant to live. For 10 years,  the association les Cabanons has organized la fête de la Terre the 1st weekend of September which joined together today more than 6000 visitors.