Saw Mill River Daylighting - Tribute to Yonkers Labor
Saw Mill River Daylighting
Tribute to Yonkers Labor
The numerous saw mills and grist mills for which Mill Street is named allowed Yonkers to grow into a manufacturing powerhouse from the 1600s to the mid 1900s, with a labor force in the thousands.
Tribute to Yonkers Labor
The numerous saw mills and grist mills for which Mill Street is named allowed Yonkers to grow into a manufacturing powerhouse from the 1600s to the mid 1900s, with a labor force in the thousands.
"Hats Off to Yonkers!"
About 150,000 hats were tailored daily by over 1,700 employees of John T. Waring & the world's largest hat (early 1900s), located on "Chicken Island." Rudolph Eickemeyer invented the "hat pouncing machine (1869), which used a revolving cylinder of sandpaper to shave off loose felt fibers for a finished surface, revolutionizing the industry worldwide.
Yonkers - The Pickle Port
in the 1800's, some of the finest pickles come from the Wells, Hiller and Provost Canners and Producers' Farm on Odell Avenue, near Nepperhan. Later named Austin Pickle Farm, the owners hired immigrants directly from Castle Garden at Battery Park (the precursor to Ellis Island), providing a wage of $15 a month. 1900, late blight, a fungus notorious for the Irish Potato Famine, ended the industry.
Carpet Mills Loom Large in Yonkers History
One mile upstream, the Saw Mill River powered Alexander Smith & Sons, the largest carpet manufacturer in the world, with 19 buildings on 38 acres! The Moquette loom, invented by Alexander Smith and Halcyon Skinner, transformed carpet weaving. The Mill, begun in 1865, reached peak production in 1885 with 3,500 workers who produced 8 million yards of carpet a year. Workers were paid $5 a week and the factory paid out $100,000 a month. Over 60% of weavers were under 20 years old, and two-thirds were women, mostly foreign-born in 1922, the largest ever one-time shipment of carpet was delivered to San Francisco in 60 freight cars, weighing 1.5 million pounds, worth $1 million; it took 8,000 workers 8 days to produce. By 1954, the factory had closed its doors.
One mile upstream, the Saw Mill River powered Alexander Smith & Sons, the largest carpet manufacturer in the world, with 19 buildings on 38 acres! The Moquette loom, invented by Alexander Smith and Halcyon Skinner, transformed carpet weaving. The Mill, begun in 1865, reached peak production in 1885 with 3,500 workers who produced 8 million yards of carpet a year. Workers were paid $5 a week and the factory paid out $100,000 a month. Over 60% of weavers were under 20 years old, and two-thirds were women, mostly foreign-born in 1922, the largest ever one-time shipment of carpet was delivered to San Francisco in 60 freight cars, weighing 1.5 million pounds, worth $1 million; it took 8,000 workers 8 days to produce. By 1954, the factory had closed its doors.
Yonkers Women-Important in the War Effort
Yonkers was central to the Rosie the Riveter movement of World War II. Male factory workers were sent to the front. Yonkers women, already skilled in manufacturing jobs, were trained at the Yonkers Defense School of Aeronautical Manufacturing, located at School 10, Most became machine shop workers and gas welders for the GM Eastern Aircraft plant in Tarrytown.
Skyscrapers Owe Height to Otis
Few builders would construct tall buildings until Yonkers industrialist, Elisha Otis, invented a safety device that prevented elevators from falling if the hoisting cable failed. After 1852, city skylines took off!
Submitted by @lampbane