Before the days of permanent press and synthetic fabrics, silk was used to make everything from ties to dresses. The process of harvesting silk existed for thousands of years. By the 18th century England led the world in the production of silk, but over time the eastern seaboard of the United States became the leader in silk production. Silk from the Orient was shipped to Vancouver, where from the 1880s-1930s special Canadian National and Canadian Pacific “silk trains” rapidly delivered raw silk bales weighing about 200 pounds each to ports such as Buffalo and Montreal. A train carrying silk could have a cargo worth millions of dollars.
After delivery to Buffalo and Montreal the St. Lawrence River allowed easy transportation of raw silk to communities like Ogdensburg. Silk fabrics were produced by throwing (twisting the silk fibers into threads strong enough to be used in the looms), dyeing, weaving, and finishing. Soon the city would host its own silk mill, the Oswegatchie Manufacturing Company. It was established in 1902 in a small building on Isabella St., but it soon outgrew its location and moved to lower Ford St., which many of us remember as the Ames Department Store or Cleveland Container building. The facility was constructed by the Ogdensburg Improvement Company originally, with an addition a few years later that brought the floor space to over 35,000 sq. ft. The company touted that the building was modern and had great light and ventilation, which was a vast improvement over the sweatshop conditions in many older textile mills. In the early 1900s it was typical for silk mill workers to work 10 hour days with half days on Saturdays.
At the time, the Oswegatchie Manufacturing Company was the largest employer in Ogdensburg with over 400 employees, many of whom were young women. Female workers were heavily recruited with most coming within a 150 mile radius. Company ads claimed that the work was “not laborious or taxing” to attract these young women. However, mills routinely took advantage of young women by paying them less. Women were expected to accept this treatment because silk mills were often the only industry to offer employment to them. They were expected to be “thankful” and accept the generosity of their employers. Routinely women were classified as “unskilled” workers, while men were “skilled” and therefore earned much higher wages.
New potential workers were unpaid until they learned the job. Workers were expected to learn how to weave on their own and were not paid until they were able to go on the looms. In general young women made up three-quarters of the workforce in silk mills. In the early 1900s male salaries were about $485 per year with female workers making about $345 per year.
By the 1920s the age of workers employed in silk mills increased. Most workers were married females and older unmarried females. The mills had a difficult time recruiting younger workers due to the fact that silk mill jobs were low paying and not unionized. However in Ogdensburg, working in the silk mill was seen as a prime employment opportunity.
At the Oswegatchie Manufacturing Company there were about 324 looms in operation with approximately one million dollars of silk produced each year. Eventually the company outgrew the plant and had to rent space in the Hasbrouck Building, (later the Vermont Evaporator Building) which was located on the corner of Isabella and South Water Streets. It was organized by Arthur Silberman, Albert Stern, Robert Hirsch and the Openhyms, who were pioneers in the silk business in the U.S. The William Openhym and Sons firm was located in New York City.
Later the company became the Manhattan Silk Company. Felix Hulser Sr. was the superintendent until 1923 when his son replaced him. The mill closed in 1926 after the deaths of the owners, reopening later that same year after the Onondaga Silk Company started operations there. The mill produced plain jacquard, velvet and printed fabrics for use in the manufacture of ties, linings and other apparel. This company operated at the site until 1933 when machinery (and jobs) moved to Easton, Pennsylvania.
In 1935 Stone Silk Mills signed a 5 year lease, but the company failed in 1938. After the company tried to remove equipment, which was owned by the Ogdensburg Improvement Company, the court intervened with an injunction. The silk mill remained vacant until 1943 when Cleveland Container Company purchased the building.
Another business, the St. Lawrence Silk Company was begun in 1919, with Frank Singelsky, James Brown and Leo Groulx as directors. It was located in the Hannan stone mill on Main St., opposite the International Harvester Co., but it lasted only 2 years.
However the silk business began to falter after Japanese ships began using the Panama Canal instead of shipping silk to Vancouver. As a result, railroads in Canada and the U.S. saw their profits fall drastically. In addition synthetic fabrics, which were cheaper to produce and easier to care for became more prevalent. The final nail in the coffin was the Great Depression, which shuttered silk mills nationwide and ended Ogdensburg’s nearly 40 year foray into making silk.
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