Gloversville Continental Mills

Image
After the Fire: What Remains of Gloversville Continental Mills A Field of Bricks The bricks were everywhere. Not stacked, not standing. Just scattered across the ground like something vast had simply let go. What used to be Mill No. 3 of the former Gloversville-Continental Mills now spread out before me like a field of rubble, stretching from Beaver Street all the way back to the Cayadutta Creek bank. Thousands of bricks, the same ones that had held this building upright through more than a century of American manufacturing history, lay in random heaps with nowhere left to go. In one corner, pressed against a sealed-off wall, sat what remained of steel beams, HVAC machinery, and other miscellaneous load-bearing beams and the remains of 40 historical knitting machines. The fire had taken everything soft about them. What was left were twisted red-brown skeletons of rust and charred metal, piled on top of each other like they had tried to hold on and failed. Standing there in the ...
Post a Comment

Hudson Valley Block Company






Some places hide in plain sight. You could drive Route 9 a thousand times, your eyes fixed on the traffic ahead, and never notice it. Tucked back from the highway, shielded by a dense curtain of trees, a long, low building sits in silence. It’s a flicker of grey through the green, a place the world seems to have forgotten.


But to step inside is to walk into another dimension.


What was once a series of five long, industrial bays is now a cathedral of concrete and spray paint. The air is still, but the walls scream with color. This is a living gallery, an ever-changing canvas for artists whose names, Taco, Ikay, Jase, Zy, Toco, Cent, Toasty, Soma, Tobe, are layered one on top of the other in a vibrant, silent conversation. For a moment, the function of the space is lost. You’re not trying to read the words; you’re simply absorbing the sheer, explosive artistry of it all, a language of shape and color plastered against a willing canvas.


What was this place?


The building kept its secrets well. The internet, our modern oracle, offered little more than the ghost of a dead EPA link and a nod from a defunct urban exploration site, Age & Abandon. It was a digital dead end. For a building so substantial, it was remarkably invisible, a phantom on the edge of one of the Hudson Valley’s busiest arteries. The search felt like chasing a rumor.























And then, a breakthrough. Not from a database, but from a person. A local historian, digging through old microfiche, found the key: a single, fledgling advertisement in a long-ago edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.








Suddenly, the ghost had a name: the Hudson Valley Block Company.


From the late 1950s until sometime after 2002, this was a place of substance, of things that build and last. The old ad painted a picture of a business grounded in the very earth it stood on, selling “Besser Super-Vibra-Pac Building Blocks” made from pure crushed bluestone. It was a place you went for natural stone building blocks, mortar cement, sewer pipe, fireplace accessories, veneer stone, facade bricks, mason lime, sills, ornamental iron railings, and other construction supplies. It was the skeleton of the community, providing the bones for homes and fireplaces. Before it was a canvas for ephemeral art, it was a factory for permanent structures.


The paper trail gets hazy from there. The EPA records list a "M & N Manufacturing" at the site, but little else. A look at the property cards reveals another layer of obfuscation: the address itself changed, disconnecting the current lot from its past life on 60x South Road. The building didn't just become vacant; it was practically scrubbed from the map.
























Today, it’s owned by a company called Town Center Poughkeepsie LLC. And that’s where the story stops. It just sits there. In a prime corridor bustling with commercial activity, this moribund property is held in a strange state of limbo, too valuable to ignore but too neglected to save.


It’s a peculiar monument. It was born of industry and grit, a place that made things to build a community. Now, it serves a different kind of creator, one whose work is vibrant, temporary, and seen by almost no one. It’s a bridge between two worlds: the one that built our towns, and the one that colors their ruins. And it holds the stories of both, waiting quietly behind the trees.























🧱 Did You Work at Hudson Valley Block Company?

Were you employed at this concrete block manufacturing facility? Do you have photos from when the plant was operational, product samples, or memories of this Hudson Valley industrial site? Share your story below.

Drop a comment below or contact me directly. Full credit given to all contributors.

🧱 More Hudson Valley & New York Industrial History




Source(s):




1. Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for fiscal year 1983: hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session. (1983). (n.p.): U.S. Government Printing Office. pp.67

2. MacRae's State Industrial Directory: New York State. (1994). United States: MacRae's Blue Book, Incorporated. pp.10 & 51

3. Million Dollar Directory. (1992). United States: Dun & Bradstreet, Incorporated.

4. Stone. (1961). United States: Stone Publishing Company. Volume 81. pp. 11

5. Age & Abandon. (2015, October 29). MN Manufacturing – Route 9, Poughkeepsie, NY [Blog post]. https://ageandabandon.com/mn-manufacturing-route-9-poughkeepsie-ny/

6. Poughkeepsie Journal. (1957, August 16). Poughkeepsie Journal, p. 20.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inside the Abandoned Horsman Doll Factory in Trenton

Image
  You’ve got to move when the chance is right. That’s something I keep telling myself—but just as often, I forget it. Or ignore it. And then I end up learning the same lesson all over again. It happened on a quiet afternoon when I pulled up to the old Horsman Doll factory. The place has long been abandoned, but it still holds stories—ones I try to capture through my lens. The main gate was slightly ajar. Not wide open, but just enough for me to slip through with my gear. It was one of those rare opportunities. But across the street, half-hidden behind a rundown house, a group of men sat drinking and shouting over each other. The kind of scene you don't want to get caught up in—especially alone, carrying expensive camera equipment. I hesitated. I debated. I bailed. My gut told me to walk away, so I did. I figured I could find another way in. I circled the block, hoping for a back entrance or even a broken window low enough to climb through. I found one window that looked possible—bu...
Read more

Former East New York 75th Precinct Station (153rd Precinct)

Image
Station House facing Liberty Avenue & Miller Avenue Historical Completed in 1891, the former Romanesque Revival style with Venetian and Noram Revival ornament structure was created by 'architect' George Ingram, who is cited as the designer of the building. Architect Emile M. Grewe is also credited with having a hand in the collaboration. George Ingram was an assistant engineer in the Department of City Works in 1886, who was not a trained architect by trade. The building accommodated about 80 patrolmen, cells, and a stable via a passageway from the main building. Back then, it was known as the 17th precinct (Originally the 153rd precinct).  Entrance to the horse stable. Opening in 1892, the first detainee was John Pocahontas Smith, who was arrested for public drunkenness. In the 1930s, it was renamed the 75th precinct. In 1973, the precinct moved to the newer 75th precinct holdings on Sutter Ave. It then became the home to People's Baptis...
Read more

Exploring the Abandoned Aerosol Techniques Factory in Milford, CT (Photos)

Image
When I arrived at the former Aerosol Techniques factory, I was filled with a mix of anticipation and curiosity. Meeting a group of new friends for a day of urban exploration in Connecticut, we had a lineup of intriguing abandoned sites on our agenda. Our itinerary included the hauntingly beautiful Seaside Sanatorium, a former hospital, along with a few other potential spots that we were less certain about. We chose the factory as our starting point, mainly because it offered easy access and was conveniently situated next to a Lowe's hardware store. Walking along a well-trodden path, our group made a seamless transition onto the property. The sense of camaraderie was palpable as we embarked on our adventure with eager enthusiasm. The factory grounds, long deserted, were a canvas for countless graffiti artists. Every inch of the building was adorned with vibrant and eclectic street art, each piece telling its own story. This rich color and creativity set the perfect stage for our imp...
Read more

Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corporation (Part 2)

Image
Before the Bayside Company was fully known as the Bayside Fuel Oil Corporation. It was transferred by Standard Oil, its previous owner, in the 1940s. Its primary use before that time was mainly for storage and refinery purposes. Later on, it became a wholesale distributor of heating oil. Founded by Charles Pratt, it was one of about fifty refineries operating in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During the 19th century, Williamsburg was the center of oil refining along the East River & Newton Creek. Fun facts, "some of the largest industrial firms in the nation were started in this area (inland & along Newtown Creek), including Pfizer Pharmaceutical Corporation (1849); Brooklyn Flint Glass (later Corning Glassware ); and the Havemeyers and Elder Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg (later Amstar and then Domino ), once the largest establishment in the world." In the early 2000s, Bayside Oil was proposed to be demolished by a company called Clean Point En...
Read more

Rocky Hill Connecticut Foundry Company

Image
If you find yourself driving down Meadow Road in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, there’s not much left to catch your eye. The area, once a bustling hub of industry, has quieted down to little more than a stretch of road with a few remnants of its past. But one sight still stands out: three towering concrete silos, the last visible relics of what was once the Connecticut Foundry. It is rumored the silos were used to store cement during the construction of the I-91 when it was built in the early 1960s. These silos, weathered but steadfast, are all that remain of a 10-acre property that was once home to a sprawling industrial site. The Connecticut Foundry, which officially closed its doors in 1983, was demolished nearly 30 years later, its decline documented in pieces. Based on old photographs and archived Google Street View images, the foundry was gradually taken apart over the course of 2012. By the summer of that year, only a few structures lingered before the land was cleared entirely, leavi...
Read more