The Scranton Lace Company, also known as the Scranton Lace Curtain Company and Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing Company, was an American

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

History

The company was established by the Scranton

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

as the Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing Company in 1890 and was incorporated on June 15, 1897. The name Scranton Lace Company became standardized in 1916 when the Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing Company and one of its subsidiaries combined their operations. On May 13, 1958, the company changed its name to The Scranton Lace Corporation, but soon thereafter reverted to using the name The Scranton Lace Company as its official title. From 1916 to 2002 the company remained the first and largest known producer of Nottingham Lace in the United States.Scranton Lace I
Tom Bejgrowicz, Blogspot.com, 18 January 2010 (retrieved 10 January 2012) The company was the world leader in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

lace and also produced

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

napkin A napkin, serviette or face towelette is a square of cloth or paper tissue used at the table for wiping the mouth and fingers while eating. It is usually small and folded, sometimes in intricate designs and shapes. Etymology and terminology ...

s, valances, and

shower curtain A shower is a place in which a person bathes under a spray of typically warm or hot water. Indoors, there is a drain in the floor. Most showers have temperature, spray pressure and adjustable showerhead nozzle. The simplest showers have a ...

s, among many other types of lace items. During the 1940s, the company teamed up with subsidiaries such as Victory Parachutes, Inc. and Sweeney Bros. to manufacture

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

s and

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

netting In law, set-off or netting are legal techniques applied between persons or businesses with mutual rights and liabilities, replacing gross positions with net positions. It permits the rights to be used to discharge the liabilities where cross cla ...

. The company prospered well into the 1950s, but risky investments involving

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on Ju ...

and the fledgling television industry placed the company in financial peril and eventually led to its closure in 2002. Despite the factory being one of area's biggest employers, it closed in 2002 with the company's vice president telling its employees, mid-shift, that the facility was closing "effective immediately". The facility featured a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

,Photographer captures pathos of abandoned Scranton Lace Works in North Scranton
Josh McAuliffe, '' The Times-Tribune'', 28 October 2011 (retrieved 10 January 2012)

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a Meetinghouse, clubhous ...

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium,

infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications) *A clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambu ...

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

(that is a city landmark and has a

Meneely The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet), New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a s ...

cast iron bell) and other amenities. On January 31, 2011, the Scranton City Council gave final approval to Lace Building Affiliates to redevelop the Scranton Lace Complex industrial factory located at 1315 Mylert Avenue. Development was stalled because the site had been located within a flood zone before a levee was completed along the Lackawanna River in 2011 and the mapping was not updated until early 2016. Environmental cleanup work is expected to begin in August 2016. On December 30, 2011, the company's abandoned building was featured in the pilot episode of the ''Abandoned'' television series. The factory complex was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2012. The Scranton Lace Company Kingston Mill at

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

was listed in 2013. The corporate records were moved to the Waverly Community House in 2012. As of early 2019 the plant was being demolished. The clock tower is expected to be preserved and incorporated into the planned residential redevelopment.

References

External links

Official site (Archived 5 June 2002)

Scranton Lace Company in 2011
photographs by Walter Arnold {{Authority control Lace Textile companies of the United States Buildings and structures in Scranton, Pennsylvania Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies established in 1890 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2002 1890 establishments in Pennsylvania 2002 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Defunct manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania