Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "A Store With Sheep's Clothing" Story

Friday, March 28, 2014

The "A Store With Sheep's Clothing" Story

This photo show John Fleming Rich about 1887 at the company's
store and factory in Woolrich, PA.

It was an ordinary day. Just made our final stop of the day at the Woolrich Clothing Outlet in Woolrich, PA. Our friends Jerry and Just Sue have been our hosts for the weekend which featured a parade, trip to the Little League Baseball complex and our trip to the Woolrich store. Neat little town that was built by the employees of the Woolrich plant in the mid-1800s. The outlet is located at the end of a rather long Norway Spruce lined drive where the original houses that were built years ago still stand. Woolrich, Inc. was founded in 1830 by John Rich and Daniel McCormick who had plans to manufacture fabric for the wives of hunters, loggers and trappers. Today they are the oldest manufacturers of outdoor wear in the United States. They also outfitted clothing for the Civil War and Richard Byrd's 1939-1940 Antarctic expedition. The original wool mill was on Little Pump Run in Dunnstable Township, Clinton County, PA.

Original Woolrich Woolen Mill in 1830.

That factory operated until 1845 when they moved because of the lack of water. It was two years earlier that they bought 300 acres at Chatham's Run in nearby Pine Creek Township and built a sawmill. That land was was purchased from C.D. Hepburn for $600. Then in 1845 Rich bought out his partner and moved the operations to the new location.

The beginnings of Woolrich, PA

During the 1850s a town developed around the mill which was called Factoryville and workers from the wool mill helped to construct the houses . Eventually a school was added to the developing town and in 1868 a Methodist church was built. In 1907 that church was moved to another location and a new church, the same one that still stands today, was constructed. Today there are over 80 residences, a church, community clubhouse, swimming pool, park which has a "tabernacle" and a school building.

An old photo of the factory and store.

In July of 1930 they celebrated their centennial with a speech from then Woolrich Woolen Mills President Michael Bond Rich who told the gathering that there were now 85 families, 476 people, 36 pianos, 31 Victrola, 70 other musical instruments, 58 radios, 91 automobiles, 84 bathtubs, seven hogs, five cows, 23 dogs and 702 chickens.

What the store looked like in 1910.

During the three-day celebration they had a parade, the Woolrich Band played, the Red Arrow Quartet made up of Pennsyl- vania Railroad employees sang, they had an old time fiddler's contest, a baseball game, cigar smoking contest, watermelon eating contest, men's smoking race and a greased-pole climbing contest which no one won.

The Outlet Store as it appeared when I just visited.

They were a true success story. Robert F. Rich eventually became the head of the company as well as a Republican member of the U.S. House from 1931 to 1951. In the 70s, family camping became popular and many other companies began operations to compete with Woolrich. In 1990 Woolrich had to lay off half of their 2,600 employees due to dwindling sales.

The exterior of the factory as it looks today.

Today they have about 500 employees at their plant in Woolrich, PA, but do outsource to other plants in the U.S. as well as Mexico. The current President of the company is John Ranelli who announced last year that he plans to move more of the workforce back to the U.S. Last year Woolrich had sales of $250 million.

The Village of Woolrich

Still a success story! We drove about a half mile from the Outlet Store to see the factory as it appears today. Same place that has been there for years and years. I have included some photos to help you see how the Woolrich Woolen Factory was developed and has progressed over the last 184 years. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.