The "The Fabric Of Lancaster: Part II" Story

Recent photograph of Stehli Silk Mill in Rossmere, Lancaster County, PA

It was an ordinary day.  Just got back from a trip to the old neighbor- hood where Carol and I lived for 29 years.  We raised three children at our home on Janet Ave.  A block to our south was another street named Martha Ave. and about four or five blocks to the west on Martha stands what at one time was the 2nd largest silk mill in the entire world.  This vacant building represents an important chunk of Lancaster, Pennsylvania's industrial past.  

Old aerial view of Stehli Silk Mill.

It is on the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County which means it will be hard to demolish anytime soon.  My mission today is to take a few photos of the beautiful building that still stands were it was built in 1897.  Stehli Silk Mill was built by Stehli Silk Corporation.  In the New York Times on October 23, 1897 was an article stating that: Robert Stehi of the firm of Stehli & Co. of Zurich, Switzerland, and Robert M. Bartow of New York, the American correspondent of the firm, are in New York and this afternoon closed a deal with the Board of Trade whereby the firm will at once establish a large silk industry in the United States.  

Old color postcard of the 1897 Stehli Silk Mill. 

Work on the erection of the new plant was to begin at once.  As soon as the building was ready for occupancy, 1,000 looms will be put in operation in the manufacture of silks.  The new industry will employ only American labor, and the plant will be the largest in the United States.  Wasn't long before ground was broken on Martha Ave. which is in the Rossmere area of Manheim Township, Lancaster County.  Why build the 2nd largest silk mill in Lancaster, County?  

Interior shot of workers on the silk looms.

Reason #1 was that Lancaster is about halfway between Philadel- phia and New York and reason #2 was that Lancaster County is well known to have hard-working, loyal workers with a great work ethic.  The brick building that was built had 250,000 square feet of manufacturing space with over 2,500 windows.  The employees of the factory helped create the neighborhood surrounding the mill known as Rossmere.  Rent to live in one of the new homes at the time was $20.00 to $22.00 per month.  

Neighborhood houses with the Mill in the background.

When the building was in operation it created a few other jobs and occupations in Lancaster County.  Raising silkworms became a major industry with thousands of Mulberry trees being planted in Lancaster to help feed the large amount of silkworms that were imported from the far east.  Also, it was said that the company made parachutes here during the war and that was the reason they blackened so many windows in the factory.  

One of the any Art Deco patterns that Stehli
Silk MIll produced for clothing manufacturers.

Stehli Silk Mill was not only the largest silk manufacture in the United States, but was one of the country's premier manufacturers of silk dress fabric with design innovations in its Americana line of fabrics in 1925. In 1929 Stehli sold 14,000,000 yards of designer silk, enough for 5,000,000 dresses with a value of $25,000,000.  Eventually, in the early to mid-1950's, the textile industry began to use more synthetics, such as rayon and nylon, which finally led to the closing of the factory in 1954.  For some time the building was used for storage by Hubley Toys from Lancaster as well as RCA which had a plant a few blocks away.  They used the plant for storage at the height of color tube production.  

Another of my photos showing the rear of the silk mill.

About ten years ago a developer bought the property with plans to make upscale apartment units, but only recently did they put a new $1 million roof on the factory.  The windows need replaced, but that would cost an additoional $2.5 million and with no guarantee that they won't be broken by vandals, they probably won't get replaced soon.  As I walked around the building, I imagined what it must have looked like over 100 years ago.  What a grand old building it must have been in its heyday.  So sad to see its demise with broken windows, exposed rusted metal beams and a chain-link fence surrounding the entire property.  At least the Cotton Mills at the other end of town were restored and are still being used.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.