Inside the Abandoned National Silk Dyeing Co.: Paterson, NJ's Forgotten Textile Mill (Photos)

Image
  The text message from my friend J was simple: a list of addresses in Newark and Paterson. An invitation. An urban treasure map with Xs marking forgotten places. I picked the one on Piercy Street. Pulling up, I saw the building wasn’t exactly hiding. It was a behemoth of brick and colorful lettered graffiti, a whole city block of decay. A door gaped open next to an old loading dock, but the scene gave me pause. Mounds of illegally dumped trash lay along the floor of the loading bay. This part of Paterson has a tough reputation, and the open doors felt less like an invitation and more like a dare. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. The air was thick with the smell of dust and damp. I found myself in a vast, open space littered with plastic containers and skeletal metal shelving. I moved deeper, drawn toward the old boiler house section. Before I reached it, I walked into a room that stopped me cold. Everything was stained a deep, blood red. A fine crimson powder coated the fl...
Post a Comment

Cayadutta Tanning Company: The Abandoned Gloversville Factory Where Fish Swim in the Boiler Room





If you ever went inside this boiler room, this was where the school of fish lived. I am probably sure there was more on the right-hand side of the cutout.


Fish in the Boiler Room: An Unexpected Discovery



🎥 Watch: Fish swimming in the flooded boiler room of the abandoned Cayadutta Tannery.




The news came on a Monday. An article by the Daily Gazette, a bureaucratic death sentence for a place I thought had more time. On March 30, 2026, the Gloversville City Council gave the green light. The long-abandoned Cayadutta Tanning site was coming down.


A state grant of $1.5 million had been secured to clean up the city’s industrial scars. Bronze Contracting would handle the demolition for a price of $255,032. The tannery was just one name on a list of historic and blighted properties, including the old Fownes building and the Gloversville Knitting Company. It was progress, the city said. A renewal.


But my heart sank. It wasn't just about the loss of another piece of industrial history. It was about a secret I had been keeping. It was about the fish.


I had found them by accident. It was September 2023, and I was deep inside the tannery’s boiler room, painting the brick walls with light from a flashlight for a long-exposure photograph. The air was still and heavy with the smell of rust and damp earth. In the quiet, I noticed something move in a narrow channel of water cut into the concrete floor.


At first, I thought it was just a water spider, or maybe tadpoles. I leaned in closer. My flashlight beam cut through the darkness and hit the water. They were fish. Not just one or two, but a whole community, living and thriving in this forgotten place. They were breeding.


















How did they get here? The question baffled me. The building was sealed, a tomb of brick and steel. There was no stream or pipe that I could see connecting this isolated channel to the outside world. The Cayadutta Creek was a good 500 feet away, and there was no record of the property ever flooding in a way that could have washed them in. It felt like a miracle, a pocket of impossible life in a toxic tomb.


The water itself was another mystery. In a derelict tannery, you’d expect stagnant, chemical-laced sludge. But this water was crystal clear. I later found old photos of the same boiler room on Flickr, some going back as far as 2009, and other sources. Even then, the water was clean, the fish already a secret world waiting to be noticed. It had to be fed by some hidden spring or clean offshoot from the creek, a secret artery of life.


I thought back to another exploration, years ago, at the Neponsit Beach Hospital in Queens. Demolition crews were already at work when someone discovered a school of goldfish living in the flooded basement. Word got out on social media, a small outcry was raised, and they were saved. It was a small victory, a moment of grace.


I never gave the tannery fish that chance. I documented the building, took my photos, and left. I never told anyone about them. I kept the secret. I always meant to go back, especially after the winter of 2023. It was a mild one, and I wondered if they had survived. But I never made the trip.


Now, it’s too late. The news of the demolition hangs over that memory, turning a strange and beautiful discovery into a source of regret. I don’t know what species of fish they were. I don’t know if they survived that last winter. And now I know they won’t survive the spring. The city’s plan for renewal will erase this small, secret world. The fish of Cayadutta Tanning, whatever they were, will be gone, their story known only to a few who stumbled upon them in the dark.







🗽 More Abandoned New York State Landmarks



Source(s): 




1. McAdam, T. (2026, March 27). Former Fownes buildings demolished in Gloversville, Cayadutta Tanning up next. Daily Gazette. https://www.dailygazette.com/leader_herald/news/business/former-fownes-buildings-demolished-in-gloversville-cayadutta-tanning-up-next/article_eb57a503-318b-4b1c-9ccb-918084d6c081.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

The Story of the Tiffany Mill (Quinebaug Mills)

Image
  In July 2024, the historic Quinebaug Mill met its fate, reduced to rubble after standing for over a century. Despite plans to transform the site into residential apartments, the project fell through. The primary roadblocks were a mix of logistical challenges and financial impracticalities. The Town of Killingly’s sewer system, already nearing capacity, couldn't accommodate the additional strain a large housing development would bring. Alternatives, like installing a private septic system, proved just as unfeasible, leaving developers with few options. In the end, the mill’s long decline culminated in demolition, another chapter closed in the story of New England’s once-thriving textile industry. Unlike many abandoned mills that became storage spaces for forgotten relics or junk, Quinebaug Mill was eerily empty. Its interior, stripped of its former industrial vibrancy, showed little evidence of its past life as a cotton mill. Decay had taken hold—moisture had compromised the wood ...
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

Exeter Energy Tire Incinerator Plant

Image
  We pulled up the long, curving driveway and stopped at the gate. A black pickup truck was parked off to the side. Uneasy, we backed down the road, trying to decide whether to go through with the mission. We should have. Later, as I reviewed the drone footage, I saw it — an open doorway in the back. I can only assume it led straight into the tire-burning facility. But at the time, it didn’t show up on my controller’s feed. I wish we’d at least circled, and taken a look at the rear of the plant before giving up and heading to another site. That hesitation cost us. If we hadn’t let a parked truck shake our resolve, we could have been the only explorers on the entire East Coast to document one of the last two tire-to-energy plants in the country — the only one in New England. It wasn’t just a massive industrial site; it was the region’s primary solution for handling end-of-life tires, processing countless loads into energy. But we never went back. By the time we worked up the nerve a...
Read more

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