Diamond Silk Mill, also known as York Silk Manufacturing Company, is a historic silk mill located at Springettsbury Township, York County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by architect John A. Dempwolf and built about 1900. The mill is a 3 1/2-story, brick building with heavy timber frame trussing on a stone foundation, and measures 50 feet by 300 feet. It has a hipped roof, and features an octagonal 100-foot high smokestack and decorative corbelled brick cornice in the Romanesque Revival style.[2]
Diamond Silk Mill | |
 View from Hay Street | |
   | |
| Location | Junction of Ridge Avenue and Hay Street in East York, Springettsbury Township, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°58′35″N 76°42′0″W / 39.97639°N 76.70000°W |
| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha) |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | Dempwolf, John A. |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 92000949[1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1992 |
In 1910, the mill's business had increased such that it was noted by an industry periodical as becoming a full-time operation and hiring additional workers.[3] Silk manufacturing would become one of York's most important industries, feeding Lancaster's manufacture of umbrellas. A decline began with the Great Depression and continued with the introduction of synthetic fibers in the late 1930s, for which most York mills did not have equipment.[2]
The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[1]
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Interior court
See also edit
- Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill, contemporary silk mill 4 miles west in West York, Pennsylvania
- Ashley and Bailey Silk Mill, contemporary silk mill 15 miles east in Marietta, Pennsylvania
References edit
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2011-12-20. Note: This includes John J. Calabrese (February 1992). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Diamond Silk Mill" (PDF). Retrieved December 18, 2011.
- ^ "Mill News" (PDF). Posselt's Textile Journal. Philadelphia: University of Arizona. October 1910. p. xi. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
The Diamond Silk Mill, which has been operating on short time basis, [sic] is now running full time. Sufficient orders has [sic] been received, which will necessitate the employment of additional hands.