Outside Views of the Wilcox Tannery

This November 21, 1929 photo above shows the Furnace Building and the ruins of the Bark Mill that caught fire.  The bark mill was used to grind the hemlock bark in to a fine texture.  The fire was started by sparks that ignited the dust while grinding bark  This area is now occupied by Precision Compacted Components. 

Bark from the hemlock trees was transported to the Tannery by rail from a number of sawmills that existed in the area. There were two (2) bark stacking areas, one was next to the to the houses along Oak Street, the other to the south of the Tannery  The bark was stacked in curved rows several hundred feet in length.

The bark grinding mill was installed in a building to the east of the furnace building.  The building was open at the ends to permit the entrance of box cars. The grinders were located adjacent to the rails allowing the bark to be thrown directly into the grinder.  

From the grinder, the bark would be moved by forced air to the leach house to be mixed into the tannin liquor.

The photo above from around 1936 shows construction of a belt filter press plant that was constructed to keep solid materials from being discharged into the river along with other liquid waste generated from the tanning operations.  Note the box cars from the railroad in the center of the picture. This filter plant  foundation, along with only a few concrete piers, are the only surviving remnants of the tannery complex. To the right - center of the picture is the furnace building.

The above photo also from around 1936 shows the last pile of of the valuable hemlock bark at the Wilcox Tannery.  As the decline of the hemlock bark grew , newer methods of producing leather were becoming available,  resulting in many of the local tanneries closing. The Wilcox Tannery however survived a while longer and suffered a slow death.  The Wilcox Tannery, later owned by Albert Goldman Company, had been struggling  for several years, and  eventually ceased operations in 1962. At that time the plant was stripped of all valuable equipment. The entire facility was later destroyed by fire in 1966.(Click here for the story)

The above photo shows the acid tank that collapsed. Date is not known. 

A 1939 postcard photo of the Wilcox Tannery then re-named the Elk Tanning Company after it's merger. (For a improved view of this, double-click on the picture to enlarge it)

This photo shows the Wilcox Tannery in September of 1947. Note the large of hemlock are now gone.  They would have been located in the upper/center left of the picture.

The East Side of the Tannery complex near the scrub house.

The Wilcox Tannery in 1897. Note the very large rows of hemlock bark in the lower center of the picture.