Cayadutta Tanning Company: Inside Gloversville's Dead Tannery

Image
The Pink Flamingo on Harrison Street Whether it is a dead mill or tannery, a car will always be sitting in a discrete corner.  Gloversville, New York, earned its name for a reason. For decades, it was the undisputed glove capital of the world. But today, the massive tanneries, dressers, stitching factories, and dyers that built this city are quietly disappearing. One of the most fascinating casualties was the former Cayadutta Tanning Company Inc. Locals called it the Pink Flamingo. Before that, it was E.S. Parkhurst & Company, a place workers simply knew as the Hair Mill. Sitting at the southwest corner of Harrison Street and NY-30A, the property spanned two parcels. A private owner held one piece of the land, while the city owned the other. Visiting the abandoned site felt like stepping into a forgotten tannery that just needed a bit of TLC and elbow grease to restart operations sans a pocketed overhead roof. Just outside the main tanning building, a junked Mercedes sa...
Post a Comment

2016-34 W. Lippincott St Philadelphia

 



The neighborhood felt like a forgotten patchwork of empty industrial buildings, each one silently decaying next to the other. Years ago, walking past the block near the old Freihofer Wholesale and Retail Bakery Complex, I noticed that the gate I'd once found shuttered was now slightly open—just enough to slip under and explore. I couldn’t resist.














Inside, the first thing I saw stopped me in my tracks: graffiti by artists who had transformed this abandoned space into their gallery. The centerpiece was surreal and monstrous—a sprawling, gray figure with jagged yellow teeth, too many yellow eyes to count, two exposed red brains, and a long, blood-red tongue. It was a disturbing mix of body parts, like something conjured from a fever dream. This wasn’t a piece that could’ve been drawn sober; it had an intensity that felt born from wild imagination and maybe a little psychedelic inspiration.


After taking in the scene, I moved farther inside. The rooms were filled with the usual debris—scraps of garbage and broken furniture, the remnants of long-ago illegal dumping. I snapped a few photos, but before long, I was back outside. I wish I had taken more exterior photos and had taken the opportunity to pull myself inside a basement window years ago, but we live and learn from regrettable mistakes. 










The building layout was confusing. At one point, I thought I'd found a staircase leading to another section of the upper floor, expecting it to open onto a larger area. Instead, I found myself in a narrow room filled with wooden beams, holding up a section of the roof that let in bright shafts of daylight. There was no passage to the other side. It was a dead end, and I felt a pang of disappointment.


Defeated, I left, hoping the next stop—the former Steel Huddle Complex—might hold more promise. But luck wasn't on my side that day. Once again, I came up empty-handed.


Historical records and old Sanborn maps reveal a concentrated industrial history on this block, where several manufacturing companies once operated side by side. From the left of North 21st Street stood Ero Manufacturing Company, listed as an "Automotive Sporting Goods Manufacturer" in a 1910 survey and once known as Keller Manufacturing. In the center of the block was Woolford Tank Company, followed by Steel Units Manufacturing Company, with Good Bros Inc Food Products Warehouse anchoring the other end near North 20th Street. Today, this lot has been repurposed, with an entirely new business occupying the land.


Above these sites, on West Lippincott Street, lay the F.A. Depue Coal Yard, also known as McKeel Company Coal Yard, in 1910. Further, an NBS Special publication mentions Taylor Lock Co. once operating from 2034 W. Lippincott St.


In a twist of history, the former Steel Heddle Manufacturing Complex, which includes these industrial parcels, is currently for sale, covering 3101-19 N. 21st St, 2024-34 W. Lippincott St, and 2016 W. Lippincott St. This rare opportunity links past and present, offering a glimpse into the block's storied industrial legacy.






Sources:



1. NBS Special Publication. (1978). United States: The Bureau. pp.49.


Location: 2016 W Lippincott St, Philadelphia, PA 19132, USA

Comments

  1. sludgeMarch 31, 2025 at 11:57 PM

    is this still accessible?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kareem KingApril 2, 2025 at 2:24 PM

    The whole block, save one active building at the end, has been leveled.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inside the Abandoned St. Michael and St. Edward Church in Brooklyn

Image
For weeks, I had been orbiting the perimeter of the impending demolition of the Church of St. Michael and St. Edward, a once revered church in the heart of Fort Greene, like a moth drawn to a flame. The neighborhood, a patchwork of tight project housing, seemed indifferent to the fate of this historic edifice. The intel I had received suggested that entry was as simple as scaling a wooden fence, yet the timing had never felt right. Until one day, it did. With a mission in New Jersey looming, I knew it was now or never. The demolition was advancing at a startling pace, the church's twin steeples already reduced to rubble. The skeletal remains of timber beams and rusted steel frames peeked out from the ruins, a testament to the relentless march of progress. Summoning a surge of courage, I seized a moment of quiet in the bustling housing project and vaulted over the fence. My heart pounded in my chest as I slipped unnoticed into the church grounds. The once grand entrance now stood as...
Read more

Inside the Abandoned Rockaway Metal Products Factory in Queens (Photos)

Image
Rockaway Metals Products (RMP) began as a sheet metal fabrication factory beginning in 1961. RMP occupied the site from 1971 to 1987 leaving a plethora of hazardous waste materials onsite. From 1990 to 2004 the building housed various tenants which even included an auto repair shop. Rockaway Metals a manufacturer of filing cabinets and other metal products closed down in 1987. It was leased a few years ago to different owners who did not manage the 4.85-acre parcel. The 155,000-square-foot building has long been an eyesore and trouble in the neighborhood since its closure. A coastal storm in March 2018 blew debris materials to adjacent properties. Rockaway Metals was acquired by Nassau County in 1995 by tax deed. The county has held onto the property for 22-plus years. In February 2011, the site was damaged by fire and condemned soon thereafter. For more in-depth legal ownership of the property, you can read more below in the source list under U.S. v. 175 INWOOD ASSOCIATES LLP. ...
Read more

Former NYPD 65th and 73rd Precinct Stationhouse

Image
If you walk down East New York Avenue, it is easy to miss the old police station that once watched over the block. Your eyes go first to the Howard Houses, those tall brick towers that rise on the left like a wall. The former precinct squats beside them, low and dignified, its stone face worn by nearly a century of weather and worry. By the time I began paying attention to it, the building already had an expiration date. The city had picked it as the site of new affordable housing. Demolition was set to begin in full in November 2025. On paper, it was a win for a neighborhood that has carried more than its share of struggles. For the building itself, it was a quiet death sentence. I wanted to see it before it went. The main trolley line that ran down East New York Avenue was the Bergen-East New York Line, operated by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). It served as a key east-west route in the Brownsville area until many city trolley lines were converted to bus routes sta...
Read more

Inside the Abandoned R&S Strauss Auto Service Center (Photos)

Image
  I was driving towards what used to be the Consumers Park Brewery when something caught my eye—the wooden gate doors of the old auto parts store were wide open. Someone had broken in. The building had been vacant for years, even as new construction surged all around it. Right next door, a fresh, modern structure had risen, but this place remained untouched—a relic of the past hollowed out and forgotten. I pulled over without hesitation. These moments don’t come often. A while back, another shuttered dealership had been left open for months, its entrance exposed. Graffiti artists had made their mark on the metal gates, turning the abandoned space into an urban canvas. I had thought about exploring it, but before I could, the gates were suddenly chained shut overnight. The opportunity was gone. Not this time. This time, I wasn’t letting the moment slip away. I stepped inside, finally getting a look at what had been hidden behind those rolled-down gates and green plywood barriers. An...
Read more

Potter Hill Mill: Inside Westerly, RI's Abandoned Textile History (Photo Tour)

Image
  In my extensive ventures across various businesses, churches, factories, and plants, I've encountered a plethora of remnants from bygone industrial eras. Yet, none have left as profound an impression as the sight of the leftover machinery at the former Potter Hill Mill. Nestled amidst its surroundings, these aging relics stand as silent witnesses to a vibrant industrial past, their once-potent functionality now subdued by the relentless march of time. The manufacturing equipment, once the lifeblood of cotton goods production, remains steadfast, firmly bolted to the floor, slowly succumbing to the relentless embrace of rust and decay. It's a scene frozen in time—a rare glimpse into the mechanical marvels of the 1800s, preserved in their original state, untouched and unscathed by modern interventions. As I gaze upon the weather-worn structures and rusted machinery, I'm struck by the poignant juxtaposition of past and present. The former textile mill, once a bustling hub of...
Read more