intensive architectural survey inventory and conditions assessment of industrial mill buildings ...

604 Pages·2012·15.4 MB·English

INTENSIVE ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY
INVENTORY AND CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT
OF INDUSTRIAL MILL BUILDINGS
OUTSIDE OF THE
GREAT FALLS HISTORIC DISTRICT
THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF PATERSON
PASSAIC COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

Prepared for:
The City of Paterson
City of Paterson Historic Preservation Commission
Funded by:
State of New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
Historic Preservation Office
Historic Preservation Fund
CLG Grant-in-Aid 3 (Grand Identifier: HE12-005)
Prepared by:
Alison Haley, M.S.
Patrick Harshbarger, M.A., M.P.A.
Contributions by:
Gianfranco Archimede, M.S.
SEPTEMBER 2012

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
This report presents the results of an intensive-level architectural survey of 30 historic mills in the City of
Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. These 30 mills were recognized by Mayor Jeffery Jones, the Paterson
Historic Preservation Commission’s staff and by industrial historians as representing a highly significant but
largely underappreciated cultural resource directly associated with the expansion of Paterson when it was known
worldwide as “The Silk City” during the half century dating from roughly 1875 to 1925.
The “30 mills” survey was initiated by the City of Paterson with the expressed goal of identifying and surveying
historic large-scale mills located in parts of the city outside of the Great Falls district. The project was funded
by a Certified Local Government Grant-in-Aid from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection,
Historic Preservation Office (NJHPO). This came in recognition by Mayor Jeffery Jones that these buildings
should play an important role in future development plans and that they are an important cultural assets scattered
throughout much of the city. In many instances, these large buildings anchor the mixed-use neighborhoods in
which they are located. The overarching goal of this survey was to provide data that could be used to guide and
promote historic preservation by increasing awareness of these buildings and encouraging their appropriate
treatment as historic resources.
This report presents a historic summary placing the mills in historic contexts of industrial architecture and the
development of specific industrial sectors including silk, silk dyeing and finishing, machine works, locomotives
and aeronautics, which made Paterson known nationally and, in some instance, internationally, for the skill and
productivity of its businesses and workers. It also recognizes the mills for the potential significance they may
have in association with industrial archaeology and the social history of labor, immigration and ethnicity. The
report makes the recommendation that several of these themes are worthy of further exploration and research to
answer questions about the degree of direct historic associations with the mills in the survey.
In order to bring immediate recognition to threatened mills, it is recommended that the Paterson Historic Pres-
ervation Commission and the City of Paterson move forward with plans to designate buildings to the list of city
landmarks that meet the city’s Criteria and Procedures for listing. Consideration should be given to providing
PHPC staff with the resources to educate owners on appropriate maintenance and preservation treatments that
will preserve mills that anchor Paterson’s neighborhoods and provide the city with a remarkable sense of place
and heritage. Mills identified as significant by this survey should also be considered for targeted assistance
through the city’s Division of Economic Development and Division of Planning & Zoning. This assistance may
take the form of helping owners to identify potential rehabilitation or re-use solutions.
The report recommends that 28 of the 30 mills meet the eligibility criteria of the New Jersey and National
Registers of Historic Places. It is suggested that the Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) would be
an appropriate approach to nominating the mills and recognizing their significance under the state and federal
register acts. The data and context generated for this report can be used as a foundation for preparing the MPDF
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MANAGEMENT SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
and reducing the cost associated with the effort. An important advantage of the MPDF approach is that mills
listed or determined eligible will become qualified for federal preservation tax credits, which are an incentive
for rehabilitation.
Furthermore, it is recommended that the resources identified by this survey be considered for inclusion in in-
dustrial heritage tourism, an area of tourism that is growing in the United States and Europe. This could take the
form of a guided tour that links industrial sites throughout the city with the Great Falls National Historical Park
and its visitor center. This tour would draw visitors into other parts of the city to explore its industrial architec-
ture and aspects of its post-1850 industrial development beyond the waterpower. This tour could be combined
with opportunities to experience sites that were associated with the Strike of 1913, as well as neighborhoods
with historic and modern ethnic associations. The tour should not only have history but it should offer oppor-
tunities to experience the city’s living culture, including food, music and art offered in neighborhoods with an
industrial past.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
Management Summary .........................................................................................................................................i
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................iv
List of Figures .....................................................................................................................................................vi
List of Photographs ...........................................................................................................................................viii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................................x
Acknowledgments ..............................................................................................................................................xii
1. INTRODUCTION
A. Project Description and Scope of Work .....................................................................................................1-1
B. Research Design .........................................................................................................................................1-1
C. Survey Boundaries .....................................................................................................................................1-4
D. Current Historic Designation Status ..........................................................................................................1-4
E. Previous Research and Principal Sources of Information .........................................................................1-4
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A. Overview: Paterson — An Industrial City ‘Peculiar to Itself’ ...................................................................2-1
B. Industrial Architecture in Paterson ............................................................................................................2-4
C. Industrial Sectors Represented in the Mills Survey ................................................................................2-19
D. The Industrial Archaeology of Paterson’s Mills – Process and Technology ...........................................2-37
E. Mill Owners and Management – The Mills as Symbols of Prosperity and Power .................................2-38
F. Workers in the Mills and the Community – The Mills as Sites of Pride in Labor and
Labor Unrest ...........................................................................................................................................2-41
G. The Cultural Meaning of Paterson’s Mills – The ‘Silk City’ Yesterday and Today ................................2-45
3. DATA SUMMARY
A. Results of Field Work – Summary Data on 30 Mills ................................................................................3-1
B. Evaluations of Significance and Integrity..................................................................................................3-1
C. Eligibility for the New Jersey and National Registers ..............................................................................3-5
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Condition Assessments and Threats to Preservation .................................................................................4-1
B. Listing in the New Jersey and National Registers – Multiple Property Approach ...................................4-2
C. Questions and Opportunities for Further Research ...................................................................................4-2
D. Opportunities to Develop Industrial Heritage Tourism .............................................................................4-3
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................R-1
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
page
APPENDICES
A. Historic Preservation Fund Grant Application and Agreement ................................................................A-1
B. Request for Proposals (RFP) ....................................................................................................................B-1
C. New Jersey Historic Preservation Office Intensive-Level Survey Forms ................................................C-1
D. Resumes ....................................................................................................................................................D-1
E. New Jersey Historic Preservation Office Bibliographic Abstract ............................................................E-1
F. Project Administrative Data .......................................................................................................................F-1
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LIST OF FIGURES
page
1.1. Location of Study Area ...........................................................................................................................1-2
1.2. Location of Study Area on USGS Topographic Map .............................................................................1-5
1.3. Location of Surveyed Mill Properties ......................................................................................opposite 1-6
2.1. Detail from Bird’s Eye View of Paterson, N.J. 1880. .............................................................................2-2
2.2. Silk Mill of Hamil & Booth. L. R. Trumbull, A History of Industrial Paterson. 1882 .........................2-5
2.3. Power Loom Weavers. George White, Memoir of Samuel Slater. 1836 ................................................2-6
2.4. Silk Mill of William Strange & Company. L.R. Trumbull, A History of Industrial
Paterson. 1882 ........................................................................................................................................2-8
2.5. Barbour Flax Company, Grand Street Mill. Sanborn Map Company. 1915 ..........................................2-9
2.6. Wright Aeronautical Factory. Curtiss-Wright Papers, Passaic County Historical Society.
Circa 1916 .............................................................................................................................................2-11
2.7. Washington Piece Dyeing and Finishing Company, Inc. Sanborn Map Company, 1931 ....................2-12
2.8. Paterson architect Fred W. Wentworth. The Paterson Daily and Weekly Guardian,
Paterson, N.J. Circa 1898 .....................................................................................................................2-14
2.9. Gaede Silk Dyeing Company. The Paterson Press Guardian, Paterson in Pictures. 1923 ..................2-16
2.10. Hats Trimmed with Silk Ribbon. The American Silk Journal. September 1924 ..................................2-21
2.11. Dye works of George Morlot. L. R. Trumbull, A History of Industrial Paterson. 1882 .....................2-26
2.12. Rogers Locomotive Works. L. R. Trumbull, A History of Industrial Paterson. 1882 .........................2-32
2.13. Hinchliffe Brewery. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ...................................................................2-36
2.14. Mills and Leading Men. A sample page from New Jersey’s Leading Cities Illustrated, 1889 ............2-39
2.15. Nathan Barnert. The Paterson Daily and Weekly Guardian, Paterson, N.J. Circa 1898 .....................2-40
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LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS
page
2.1. Silk Mills of Dexter Lambert and Company. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ...........................2-13
2.2. Watson Machine Works. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ...........................................................2-17
2.3. Silk Mill of Hopper and Scott. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ..................................................2-18
2.4. Barnert Silk Mill. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ......................................................................2-23
2.5. Family broad-silk weaving shop in tenant mill. Wood, Employment Experience of Paterson
Broad-Silk Workers. 1939 .....................................................................................................................2-24
2.6. Aerial Photograph of Bunker Hill neighborhood and its dye works. Paterson Historic
Preservation Commission. Circa 1970 .................................................................................................2-27
2.7. Dye Works of Auger & Simon. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 .................................................2-29
2.8. Shops of Samuel Smith & Son. Shriner, Paterson, New Jersey. 1890 ................................................2-31
2.9. Wright Aeronautical Company. The Paterson Press Guardian, Paterson in Pictures. 1923 ................2-34
2.10. Silk mill workers, circa 1900 ................................................................................................................2-42
2.11. Silk mill workers, circa 1900 ................................................................................................................2-43
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