Muncy Woolen Mills

Located at 18 South Market Street

Built in 1882, Torn down in 2013

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Rogers Woolen Mill

(What happened to this building?)
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In 1817 Samuel and Jonathan bought property on Muncy Creek near the borough of Muncy in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania where the enterprising brothers built a frame building to house a new woolen factory. They also built a grist mill, plaster mill and sawmill all of which were operated in connection with the woolen mill.

In 1826 the woolen mill was destroyed by fire. After this disaster Samuel and Jonathan dissolved their business relations, and Samuel bought out Jonathan's interest. Jonathan returned to the Forks where he established another woolen factory that same year. He operated that factory until his death in 1830.

After the fire, Samuel immediately turned his attention to building an even larger, 3-story woolen factory on Muncy Creek, this time of brick. The Muncy Mills consisted of a corn, plaster and sawmill as well as the cloth factory. He was engaged in that operation from about 1827 until 1840. (Samuel then went to supervise operations at the White Deer Mill)

On the 1883 Fowler Map Of Muncy - Coulter Rogers & Co Muncy Woolen Mills

Coulter Rogers & Co 

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MUNCY WOOLEN MILLS

1883-1929

"Situated on market street near the basin, and the buildings are brick. "

In 1882, the firm known as Coulter, Rogers and Company purchased this land and erected a large three story 'L' shaped building here for the purpose of producing wool blankets. By 1890 the firm was doing business as Muncy Woolen Mill and turning out 50,000 blankets a year. - Historical Marker

Prior to opening the woolen mill in Muncy, the Rogers brothers had operated the woolen mill at Dunwoody.

On the 1883 Fowler Map.  #8 is the Woolen Mill.  

Muncy Woolen Mills advertised in several issues of American Wool and Cotton Reporter in 1899. The company described itself as "Manufacturers of White and Colored all Wool Bed" and "Blankets." In the August 31, 1899, issue, the company listed several items for sale, including a D&F Double Cylinder Twister; a D&F 90-inch up and down Gig; and a 50-spladle Lindsey & Hyde Yarn Reel with the latest patterns.

1892 Lewisburg Journal

1893  - Won awards at the Chicago Exposition for Blanket Quality

March 6 1902 - "Yesterday afternoon about 2:30 o'clock the roof of the dye house at the plant of the Muncy Woolen Mills company on Market street, collapsed, and two men, Samuel Rogers and Thomas Opp were injured, one quite badly." - Muncy Luminary

1921

"The Muncy Woolen Mills Company, manufacturers of blankets, and Sprout, Waldron & Co., manufacturers of flowering mill machinery, are so crowed [sic] with orders that they are running 13 hours a day." - Luminary, October 1902

1924

"The Muncy Woolen Mills, employing about fifty persons, has a reputation which is only bounded by the two coasts. Until very recently it had been in the hands of two members of the same families for more than seventy years. The company devotes itself entirely to the manufacture of all-wool blankets and its reputation for good workmanship and the high quality of its output extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and even to Europe. It is in almost continuous operation." - History of Lycoming County By Lloyd, 1929

Dan Taggart, Harry Starr, Benjamin Miller, Sam Rogers, Harry Grange, Frank Miller and Ollie Linebauch

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MUNCY TEXTILE COMPANY

1929-1932  

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GLENBROOK WOOLEN MILLS

1937-1944

In 1936 the Muncy Woolen Mill was purchased by S.L. Hoffman of New York.

1937

The First Baptist Church, built in 1842, sat on the northwest corner of High and Market Streets. It was sold to Muncy Woolen Mills in 1898 and razed.  Ninety years later.. 

In April of 1937, a title insurance company attempted to settle a 90 year old mortgage on the building. That same month, after not operating for several years, the mill was updated and running once again.

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WELDON PAJAMAS

1944-1960

"With employment reaching 350 in 1957, this pajama manufacturer was the second largest employer in Muncy. Weldon's closed their Muncy operation in 1960 and a year later Sprout Waldron bought the building for storage." - Historical Marker

According to Elmer Fruet’s wife Teresa, “Thanks to the people who worked there, Weldon’s made quality sleepwear for men and women unlike what’s available now.” 

It’s widely claimed the name Weldon is a combination of the words “Well done.” As many as 350 employees staffed the three floors of workable space in the brick building fronting Market Street.

"One of the perks Francis Smith arranged were annual factory picnics. Held on the 4th of July, it started off the company’s annual vacation week. First held on factory grounds, space was soon overgrown so the event moved to Trout Pond Park.” - Mrs Elmer Fruet

The Weldon production in Muncy ended in December of 1960.

 Weldon’s general manager Jack Smith, in  a statement for the papers said, “Economic conditions do not warrant continued operations at the Muncy plant.”

The building and business was owned by Joseph Smith of Williamsport.  Muncy Business and Industry leaders met with the Greater Williamsport Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to find tenants for the vacated building.

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INTERVIEW WITH

Frank Miller

Muncy Woolen Mill Employee

In 1956, the Williamsport Sun Gazette interviewed Frank Miller of East Water Street in Muncy.  He was at the time the "only person still living who was on the first payroll of the original Muncy Woolen Mill."  [Slight correction - the first woolen mill in Muncy was built by Samuel Rogers.  Miller was an original employee of the Coulter, Rogers and Company, which was not the first woolen mill in Muncy.]

Miller spun the last cloth to go through the Muncy Woolen Mill.  "Due to his knowledge of the manufacture of wool, he was often called to the old Bryantown woolen mill when it was owned by Ellison and Osler.  He also spun the last thread at the Bryantown Mill"

Miller had kept many of the old mill records, including a list of those who were working in the carding room in December 1885.  On that list, according to the Sun Gazette article, was:

Bruce Smith

James Waterhouse

Frank Hamilton

George Campbell

Harry Shoemaker

Charles Longenberger

"The Muncy Woolen Mill at one time turned out such superior blankets that they were cherished for years and became known all over "the world. When a bride received a pair of "Muncy Blankets" as gift it was considered she had received the best.

 James Coulter and Samuel and George Rogers were the original owners and operators of the Muncy Woolen Mills. Previous to this time the Rogers brothers had operated woolen mill at Dunwoody. 

 After the Civil War James Coulter, together with Samuel Bryan, took over the operation of the mill at Bryantown, . Mr. Coulter came to Muncy from the Bryantown mill. Before that he was connected with woolen mills in Philadelphia, where he and his family resided.

 The old canal played an important part in the history of the Muncy  Woolen Mill. It was located on the canal and Mr. Miller recalls  when a new boiler for the mill was brought in on a canal flat boat. Sometimes boats were brought to the mill's basin, to be tied up for the winter. 

 

The Muncy firm operated continuously under the families of the original owners, the Coulters and the Rogers, from 1883 until 1927. Samuel Coulter, son of  James Coulter, was the last head of the firm who belonged to a family of an original owner 

Now residing in  Muncy are Frank S. 

Rogers, son of George Rogers, one of the original mill owners, and W. F. Venrick, son-in: law of James Coulter, another original. owner. Both Mr. Rogers. and Mr. Venrick had important roles. in the manufacture of the famous Muncy Blankets"

Coulter and John Wannamaker were personal friends, and the Wannamaker store in Philadelphia was one of the "foremost customers" of the Muncy mill.

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SPROUT WALDRON STORAGE
ANDRITZ

In the 1979 Historical District Report for Muncy:

Muncy Woolen Mills - (West side of S. Market St., 100 block) 1882 Three and one-half story, brick, Victorian industrial building, featuring a twelve-bay by five-bay rectangular configuration with each recessed bay possessing a twelve light double hung window. Originally constructed by the Muncy Woolen Mills Company, the structure is now used as storage by the Sprout-Waldron Company, a division of Koppers Company, Inc.

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TORN DOWN

In 2013, the Muncy Woolen Mill building was owned by Andritz, and had been sitting vacant for some time.  A storm in April of that year blew a hole into the brick building, and it was declared unsafe - slated to be torn down.  "It's sad because the building has such great history in Muncy, generations of Muncyians have worked here when it was a mill or Weldon's making pajamas," said Bill Poulton of the Muncy Historical Society.

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READ MORE

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Check this article:

“Muncy’s Industries in the 1890's,” The Now and Then,

Vol, XVII, #11, April 1974, p. 505.

According to the Historical Marker at 16 south market street in Muncy:

"In 1882, the firm known as Coulter, Rogers and Company purchased this land and erected a large three story 'L' shaped building here for the purpose of producing wool blankets. By 1890 the firm was doing business as Muncy Woolen Mill and turning out 50,000 blankets a year.

Early in 1929 the business closed but reopened in August as the Muncy Textile Company and the employees were making 300-400 blankets a day. Muncy Textile Company closed in 1932.

Beginning in 1937 until 1944, Glenbrook Mill operated from this site until the sale to Weldon Manufacturing. With employment reaching 350 in 1957, this pajama manufacturer was the second largest employer in Muncy. Weldon's closed their Muncy operation in 1960 and a year later Sprout Waldron bought the building for storage. The building was razed in 2013.

The First Baptist Church, built in 1842, sat on the northwest corner of High and Market Streets. It was sold to Muncy Woolen Mills in 1898 and razed.

The Muncy Cross Cut

The canal and then the railroad spur, offering its low-cost transportation, facilitated the growth of Muncy's new "merchants' class." Funded by Muncy's merchants, the "Muncy Cut" allowed canal boats plying the West Branch Canal to directly access downtown Muncy.

The privately operated cross-cut canal ran nearly a mile from the Port Penn section, ending at the Woolen Mills Factory. Beyond the mill was the "Basin" or turnaround area of the "Muncy Cut" canal. L. B. Sprout relocated his business to Muncy for canal access.

"The manufacturing industries of Muncy have increased greatly during the past decade. The Muncy Woolen Mills Company, founding in 1882, after a prosperous career of ten years, was chartered February 12, 1892, with a capital of $100,000. The directors are George H. Rogers, James Coulter, Samuel Rogers, and Samuel Coulter, Muncy; Uriah Megahan and J. Clinton Hill, Williamsport. The mills of the company are situated on Market street near the basin, and the buildings are brick. The consumption of wool annually reaches 150,000 pounds. During the year 1891 the company manufactured and sold 30,000 blankets. From fifty to sixty hands are employed." - Meginness, History Of Lycoming County

"Samuel Rogers, the second, who became one of the most enterprising business men on the West Branch ... [came] to reside at the forks of the Loyalsock at the time the woolen factory was in operation and afterward moved to Muncy. ... Soon after the loss of the woolen factory Samuel Rodgers [sic], with his brother Jonathan, bought a mill property at Muncy, consisting of saw, grist and plaster mills, and to which they added a woolen mill. This property, after being operated for about ten years, was destroyed by fire. The brothers then dissolved partnership and Samuel built another factory near Muncy, where he continued for about fifteen years, when he established the White Deer woolen mills and later the Briar Creek mills in Columbia County. His sons established an extensive woolen factory on Bear creek, near the southern line of this county, in 1854, and his grandsons are now connected with the Muncy woolen mills. His death occurred in 1857." -  Notes and queries: Historical, biographical, and genealogical, chiefly relating to Interior Pennsylvania, Volume 2 - Engle

c. 1810 - Built woolen mill, Dam, Sawmill in [Forksville] "at the forks of Loyalsock Creek"

1816 Mill washed away in flood

1817 Samuel & Jonathan built Woolen Factory in Muncy.  Also a grist mill, plaster mill, and sawmill.

1826 fire destroyed the woolen mill.  After the fire Jonathan and Samuel dissolved their partnership, Samuel bought out Jonathan's share, and Jonathan went back to Forksville where he built another woolen factory.

1827 Samuel built a new three story brick factory on Muncy Creek - it consisted of a corn, plaster, and sawmill, as well as a cloth factory.

1841 - Samuel moved to "Hightown Union County", where he managed the White Deer Woolen Mills

1845 White Deer Woolen Mills burned

1846 Samuel Moved to Briar Creek Columbia County where he leased a mill with his sons Richard & Jeremiah

1854 Samuel Retired and returned to his farm in Muncy.  There his sons, Richard & Jeremiah, built a woolen mill in 1854.  "Richards son's Geroge, Samuel and Judson continued that business through another generation of woolen mill workers."