Last fall I had the opportunity to attend the last tour of Scranton Lace hosted by Abandoned America. Sadly due to the removal of the roof drain piping, water has created several unsafe conditions in the wooden portions of the complex. As a architect, I was sad to see such senseless and preventable damage. As a photographer, I was happy to have had the chance to photograph it, but wished I had known about it sooner.
Scranton Lace opened as the Scranton Lace Curtain Manufacturing Company in 1890, and eventually became the largest producer of Nottingham lace in the United States. Scranton lace continued operations until 2002 when it closed mid-shift. The complex was so large that it included a ballroom, gymnasium, theater, bowling alley, and infirmary, in addition to the vast production and storage facility. My understanding is that the current owners plan to redevelop the site, hopefully they aren’t too late.
Crates:
The last of the Nottingham Looms:
Theater:
Ripples:
Ballroom: