One of the industries that has brought fame to Scranton and the growth of the city is the silk industry. Silk making was started here in a small way in 1872, but not until 1880 was the second mill built. The plentifulness of good labor to be had was the reason for the mills coming here in the first place and for the growth of the business.
Today Scranton is the second silk making city in the world. Its annual output of thrown silk is 2,500,000 pounds, valued at about $6 a pound, or about $15,000,000. In addition to silk throwing mills there are a number of weaving mills in the city and the output of these is 5,000,000 yards a year, with an approximate value of $6,000,000.
In Scranton there are thirty silk mills and they give employment to about 5,000 persons. Good wages are paid and working hours have been shortened until today the mill employees here have better conditions than in most cities. In Lackawanna county there are seventy mills, in which 350,000 spindles and 3,500 looms are operated. In the county there are close to 13,000 hands employed in the industry.
The product of these Scranton and Lackawanna county mills goes in every corner of the world and Scranton made silk, like all Scranton made goods, has a reputation for merit and excellence. In the mills of the city and county the silk is thrown and woven only, and the dyeing is done in other cities, Paterson, NJ, and Williamsport being two of the places to which the local silk is sent to be dyed.
Scranton's first silk mill was built in 1872, when John E Atwood, superintendent of the Sprague Manufacturing company, of Providence, RI, came here and purchased sixty acres of land on the Pawness tract in lower South Scranton and started work on a mill building. Alfred Harvey was inside superintendent for that mill. In 1875 the factory was the fourth largest in the country. It was closed in 1877 and later purchased by the Sauquoit people who operate it today.
The Harvey Silk company built a mill in 1880 on West Lackawanna avenue and installed the best machinery obtainable. This company later built other mills and soon silk mills began to spring up in all parts of the city and county. The high quality of the work done here attracted other manufacturers and years ago Scranton took its place as the second silk city in the workld. Millions of dollars have been invested in the industry and all the plants are on a firm financial basis.