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Then and now
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The old Sylva Tannery (top photo) is seen shortly before construction is completed, according to information written on the back of the undated image, which would mean the picture dates from around 1900, based on information found in “The History of Jackson County.” The chapter titled “Economic Activities,” written by retired Western Carolina history professor John Bell of Cullowhee contains the following information. “In 1901 C.J. Harris founded a tannery that was called by different names: Harris-Rees, Harris, Sylva, Parsons and Armour. It was located in the flats along Scotts Creek in East Sylva. The plant had two processes: one to boil tannic acid from chipped chestnut wood and another to tan “packer hides” of a grade to make industrial machine belts and shoe sole leather. In 1915 the Armour Leather bought into the concern in order to expand the extract plant and supply tannin extract to its 14 tanneries across the nation. In 1922 the tannery had a capacity of 300 hides a day and employed 350 workers. From 45,000 cords of chestnut wood a year the extract plant produced about 62,000 barrels of tannin extract. At first processing a hide took about one year, but the time was reduced to four months by 1950. In 1957 Armour ceased operation because shoe sole leather, its main product, decreased in demand because of the increased use of man-made materials for shoe soles. When Armour closed, it sold its property to the adjoining Mead Corp.” Mead, which had opened in 1928, closed in 1974. The plant reopened as Jackson Paper (foreground in lower photo) around 1981. – Photo courtesy Claude Jones (top) and Herald photo by Nick Breedlove |
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