H. Warshow & Sons, In Milton Pa

Demolition of the  Warshow Dye Plant, March 2016

 Formerly The Milton Manufacturing Cold Punch Building

Warshow & Sons , a textile manufacturing company with factories and operations in multiple locations and states,   purchased a building in Milton in 1946, where after many delays caused by steel shortages from the war, they operated through 2005.   Warshow was a manufacturer of Stretch fabrics for active wear and swimwear, under the trade name of Spandura.  They operated out of factories in Alabama, Virginia, Montoursville, and Milton Pa.  The company began seriously downsizing in 2004, and in 2005, the operations in Milton were closed.  A fire in 2010 severely damaged the dye plant, and after sitting abandoned for a number of years, it was torn down in 2016, a credit union was then constructed on that site.

From Mahoning Street, looking south towards the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee building

H. Warshow & Sons, a textile distributing firm,  was founded in 1911 by Henry Warshow, "out of a pushcart on Manhattan’s Lower East Side".   In 1930 the company began manufacturing rigid fabrics for the hat lining, girls, and brassier industry.   In the 1930s, Warshow, in a joint effort with U.S. Rubber, introduced the first woven stretch fabric for intimate apparel and swimwear. They were among the first to perfect the process and in 1932 they began to manufacture wide elastic fabric for girdles. 

1919 Aerial Photo of the building that would become Warshow & Sons , in 1946.

In June of 1946, Warshow & Sons purchased the former Milton Manufacturing Cold Punch building for $73,000 at a public sale.  [At the time of the purchase, Warshow also owned a textile plant nearby in Montgomery Pa, as well as operations in Montoursville Pa.] 

The sprawling Milton Manufacturing Complex, in it's heyday.

The company immediately began the process of outfitting the Milton  building as a textile mill. In February of 1947, some Miltonians were in the process of being trained, at the Montoursville plants, but the opening of the Milton factory was expected to be delayed until the next fall, due to machine scarcity. 

Inside the abandoned factory

 By July of 1948, the Milton location employed 75 workers, but was "still far from full production, because a shortage of steel has held up installation of new machinery".

1955

In the 1950s, Joseph Warshow  sent his son  Henry [Grandson of the founder] to Milton,  to learn every part of the business.  

A 1959 article about a pool and park fundraiser stated that the new Warshows warehouse [Formerly owned by Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, shown above]  was located just off south front street, near the borough line, south of the Boy-Ar-Dee softball league field,  beside land owned by Geroge J. Yocum.  Warshows had planned to occupy their new warehouse in early September, but delayed their move in until after the fundraiser, so that the event could be held in that building.

Warshows being demolished, 2016

In 2004, Warshow's had three locations in Milton: The Dye House on Mahoning Street, the warehouse "across the street", and the distribution center at 747 South Front Street.

October 1996

Warshows developed a woven elastic fabric for use in bathing suits.  Products included fabrics for U.S. Olympic team uniforms, equestrian pants, rock climbing pants, arctics and shooting gloves, webbed gloves for swim training, scuba and wet suit liners, football practice jerseys, orthopedic brace fabrics, and more.

One former employee recalls that at least one of the bathing suits worn by  movie star Esther Williams, in one of her movies, was fashioned in Milton.

Demolition of the  Mahoning street building, March 2016

In 1967, an article on the company reported that Weaving, warping and slashing operations were carried out at the company's two plants in Montoursville, elastic thread was processed at the plant in Talladega Alabama, and the covering of the elastic thread and knitting were all done in a new plant in Tappahannock Virginia.  Dying and finishing operations, and all of the warehousing for shipment to various manufactures, was located in Milton.

Demolition of the  Mahoning street building, March 2016

Fabrics were manufactured at a Warshow's plant in Tappahannock Va, then the 300-600 yard rolls were shipped to the dye house in Milton where it was dyed.  From there it was sent to the  building off of route 45, where it was cut into rolls of 40-60 years before being shipped to customers.

In 2005, the Warshow plant in Milton was closed, leaving more than 150 unemployed from the Milton facility.  The factory in Virginia also closed that year.  

The building was then sold to Runnerless Knits.  From about 2008 to 2010, the building was vacant.

In June of 2010, while workers were cutting pipes for salvage, the sparks caught  the wall  on fire.  The fire quickly spread into the ceiling.  Five firefighters were injured battling the blaze.

Demolition of the  Mahoning street building, March 2016

In 2016, The Northumberland County Schools Federal Credit Union  purchased the 1.63 acres of land in December for $138,000 from Milt Brothers LLC, of California. The old warehouse was torn down in March of 2016.

Demolition of the  Mahoning street building, March 2016

The new building on this location opened as Pinpoint Credit Union in 2021.

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Note - although I am not certain, I do NOT believe that this building was the former artillery plant.  Looking at the 1919 map, there are two very similar buildings, with the unique slanted roof lines, nearly side by side. 

The one to the right in this photo is in the vicinity of Chef Boyardee [ConAgra] today.  [I think, specifically, the empty lot across from the old Boyardee building.  The Sanborn Fire map shows it at Railroad and Cameron Streets]

Zoomed in on the right of the above photo, showing the building located closer to current day ConAgra, formerly Chef Boy-Ar-Dees

Artillery plant as shown on the 1918 Sanborn Fire Map

The Cold Punch Building:

Zoomed in on  the LEFT in the top photo  is the building that was Milton Manufacturings Cold Punch department, purchased by Warshows in 1946.    Notice the cemetery, and Mahoning Street shown clearly here.  This is not the shell plant, shown above, at Cameron and Railroad streets,

The above photos are from 1919, prior to the Dairman's League [today Huffs] building being constructed.  https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-dairymens-league-milton-pa.html

1918 map showing the cold press shop in pink on the right

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Henry Warshow was born in Russia in 1872.  He came to America when he was 20 years old, arriving in New York in 1893.  His son Joseph, and later his grandson Henry, continued the textile business he had founded. Although they visited the plant in Milton,  they did not live in Pennsylvania, all three generations resided in New York, New York.  He died in August of 1929.

Wilkes Barre Times Leader

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1946

A Milton Manufacturing Company Plant had been purchased and was being transformed into a new textile mill for Warshaw & Sons

1946

1946

1954

1964

1969

From the Industries of Milton Historical Marker:

Henry Warshow, Sr. founded H. Warshow and Sons, Inc. in 1911. Pioneers in the field of elastic material manufacturing, the company established its main processing plant on Mahoning Street in 1946 with a warehouse south of Milton, off River Road. The company later moved its weaving preparation process to other plants with the Milton plant exclusively set up for all dying and finishing operations.

Originally a textile distributing firm, the company became a manufacturer of rigid fabrics for the hat-lining and undergarment trades in 1920. In 1931, the company invented a method of weaving wide elastic fabrics, which had never been commercially manufactured, an important segment to its business.

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Warshow Downsizes, Restructures

May. 24th, 2004

NEW YORK — Stretch-fabric weaver H. Warshow and Sons Inc. is reducing its workforce, reorganizing its management structure and focusing on larger accounts.

Warshow is one of a dwindling number of domestic weavers that have been forced to operate more efficiently to survive as the textile market becomes increasingly global. According to the National Council of Textile Organizations, an industry lobbying group, the U.S. has lost 257 textile mills since 1997, with 20 closing so far this year. At the end of February, according to Department of Labor data, the industry employed 412,800 people, down 51,600 from a year earlier.

The privately held firm, which employs fewer than 500, declined to quantify the workforce reductions. Cuts were made at Warshow’s Manhattan offices, its knitting and weaving facility in Tappahannock, Va., and in its dyeing and finishing plant in Milton, Pa. The firm, which focuses on stretch wovens for swimwear and intimate apparel, also has a growing business supplying fabrics used by the military and athletes.

“We were fat and lazy in the back offices,” said chief executive officer Henry Warshow in an interview. The major cuts were made in the administrative or back office portions of the business.

While there are no plans to add back administrative positions, a recent uptick in sales has the firm increasing its workforce in areas such as knitting and dyeing. Warshow said the firm has moved to a six-day work week at its plants.

Founded in 1911 by Warshow’s grandfather out of a pushcart on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, there are only two Warshows left in the company, Henry and his wife, Miriam, executive vice president.

In the restructuring, the ceo, who retains his title but will now focus on sales, has handed day-to-day operational control of the firm to David Beebe, who was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Beebe had been senior vice president of operations.

Completing the troika that steers the firm is Ivor Kisberg, who has been promoted to senior vice president of sales administration. Kisberg, who had been vice president of corporate planning reporting to Warshow, now reports to Beebe and is responsible for reorganizing and coordinating the company’s sales

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Henry Warshow II, 1930-2015

Grandson of the Founder