"Washington Mills, Wm. Emsley & Bro." (1880), Hexamer #1432.
William Emsley & Brothers, Washington Mills, 1866
Northwest corner of East Hagert Street and Emerald Street, Philadelphia PA 19125.
© Carmen A. Weber, Irving
Kosmin, and Muriel Kirkpatrick, Workshop of the World (Oliver
Evans Press, 1990).
William and Joseph Emsley
were English immigrants. Their complex on the northeast
corner of East Hagert and Emerald Streets grew between
1866 and 1881, housing various textile firms. For
example, in 1876 William and Joseph Emsley produced
cotton and woolen yarns whereas the other two tenants in
their complex made hosiery. 1
In 1882 The
Shepper Brothers manufactured woolen and worsted goods
with approximately fifty hands and forty looms, and
Craven and Dearnley employed about 120 hands and a
variety of spinning and roving frames and picking and
carding machines to produce woolen and worsted
yarns. 2
The three story
brick building on the corner, built in 1867, housed the
Emsley Brothers carding, spinning, and reeling machinery.
Adjoining this structure to the north, a six story brick
building with a corbelled brick and metal cornice was
constructed in 1881. A variety of machines and tenants,
as well as the Emsley brothers, utilized this structure.
1 Hexamer General Survey #995 (1876)
"Washington Mills, Wm. Emsley &
Bro."
2 Hexamer General Survey #1637 (1882)
"Washington Mills, Wm. Emsley &
Bro."
Update May
2007 (by
Torben Jenk):
Survives. Now occupied by CAVCO, a manufacturer of vinyl
windows and steel doors.
See
also:
Hexamer General Survey #1432 (1880)
"Washington Mills, Wm. Emsley &
Bro."