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Logging and Timber Production
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First Tannery in Saratoga
Beecher Tannery is the first tannery in Saratoga County -
Fulton County
The first documented tanneries begin to appear in Fulton County. Due to its isolation tanneries in this area relied more heavily on deer hides than cattle, as cattle hides were not genereally shipped to such remote locations.(McMartin, 1992) -
Early Tanneries
The first tanneries in the area begin to appear in the early 1800's. Warren County (which was one of the biggerst tanning areas) cites the first tannery in the area existing as early as 1810 ( McMartin 1992) The Photo shows the distribution of Tanery employees in the year 1845. Dark Brown represents tanneries (Jenkins and Keal 2004) -
Growth of an Indusrty
In 1810 there was one tannery in all of warren county. By 1839 there were sixteen. McMartin (1962) -
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Paper Production
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Feeder Canal
Feeder Canal reaches Glens Falls. This would help bring hides to the area into the future as the tanning industry grew. The canals played a very important role in not only the tanning industry, but all industires in the upper hudson region. -
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Tanning
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Essex County
In 1836 there are 12 tanneries in Essex County. The photo shows the outline of the Upper Hudson Watershed within the Adirondacks, as well as specific counties. Much of essex county lies within the Adirondacks and was thus nearby many large Hemlock stands. Photo: (McInerney, 2011) -
First Large Tannery
The first large tanneries appear in the upper Hudson. The first Is established by Gurdon Conkling in 1848. It utilizied power generated by the 1831 dam built by Isaac Barber. -
First Tannery in Providence
The first large tannery in Providence, within ten years this would go on to produce 400,000 sides of shoe sole per year. (Starr, 2010) -
Tanning and Lumbering
In 1850 tanning in Hamilton County was a more profitable industry than logging. -
Big Money
In the year 1865 Warren County was shipping 1.75 milliond dollars in hides. The image attached shows a large tannery in Warrensburg (McMartin, 1992) -
Black Gold!
A tannery in Ballston Spa owned by Chauncey and Aurthor Parent is sold after the discovery of oil on site. The owners sold their interest for 60,000. It turned out not to produce its moneys worth of oil, but is note worthy as it characterizes the ambitious attitudes of the time. (starr,2010) -
Clearing the Land
Between 1850 and 1880 the tanning industry cleared more land than the logging industry. This was due to the heavy reliance on Hemlock Bark. The largest tanneries owned as much as 75,000 acres of land, and required 6,000 cords of bark per year (Harris, 2009) The photo shows a man delivering hemlock about one cord of bark to a tannery. (McMartin) -
Full Employment
Bulll's Head Tannery employs 150, up 85 from five years earlier. (Starr, 2007) Photo is of Bulls head tannery in mid 1800's (starr, 2010) -
Supplying an Indusrty
Between 1840 and 1890 Warren County supplied 800,000 Chords of Hemlock Bark (McMartin, 1992) -
American Hide and Leather Company
In 1899 the American Hide and Leather Company was formed and began cosolidating several large tanneries. This is similar to other industries of the time which also began forming trusts. -
Pollution
In 1899 Bull's Head Tannery is threatened by lawsuits which claim its practices are polluting the Kaydeross Creek. (Starr, 2007) -
Decline
The photograph shows the life span of major tanneries in several of the counties in the Upper Hudson. While tanning contined into the 1900's much of the industry had already closed up. (McMartin) -
The Sale of Hull, Haight and Company
In 1915 one off the largest tanneries in the area Hull, Haight and Company is ssold to American Hide and Leather. The year it was sold it processed 900 hides a day and 1,800 sides of leather. This tannery tended to outlast most other tanneries. By 1915 most other tanneries had already started to go out of business. -
The end
By 1920 most of the tanneries in the area were out of business. This was spurred by the decrease in available resources, labor disputes, and changing tastes and prefrences among american consumers (starr, 2010)
