South facade along Indiana Avenue (2007).
Rose Mills, 1894
3000 C Street, Philadelphia PA 19134
(north side of Indiana Avenue between C Street and Rosehill Street)
© Carmen A. Weber, Irving
Kosmin, and Muriel Kirkpatrick, Workshop of the World (Oliver
Evans Press, 1990).
Built in 1894 for John G.
Carruth and Company as the Endurance Mills, this five
story brick building and accompanying complex is still
used for textile manufacturing. The Endurance Mills
utilized steam power to weave cotton goods in the main
building. A two story brick office sat on the east side
of the mill; a one story brick engine room with one steam
engine, and a boiler house with three boilers were to the
rear. 1
Several different textile concerns operated in the mill
in the early twentieth century. Eventually the Rose
Mills took over the complex, producing specialty yarn for
the upholstery and apparel industries. Between 1940
and 1943, employment in the mill jumped from 89 to 256
people. 2
When the Rose
Mills went out of business in 1987, Nortex International,
Inc. bought the complex. Nortex, based in Springfield,
New Jersey, also operates mills in Moorsville, North
Carolina and London, England. The firm added "Rose Mills"
to their company name and still produce specialty yarns
for the upholstery and apparel industries. In addition,
the new Research and Development Division of Nortex is
based in their Philadelphia mill. 3
1 Hexamer General Survey #2819 (1894)
"Endurance Mills, John J. Carruth &
Co."
2 Chamber of Commerce
and Board of Trade, Philadelphia, p. 43.
3 Conversation with
Douglas P. Mosk, Department / Quality Control Manager,
(January 12, 1989).
Update May
2007 (by
Torben Jenk):
Average condition. First
floor window openings have been sealed with concrete
block. Many original window sash survive on the upper
floors. The chimney is in deteriorating condition with
rusting metal plates peeling away near the top, exposing
the brick core. Occupied by World Manufacturing, which
manufactures advertising display
products.