The most successful clothing mill in Wayne County, PA in the mid-19th century was Birdsall Woolen Mills in Seelyville, established by James Birdsall in 1846 in a building originally used to make shovel handles. Starting with only 10 or 12 employees, by the 1880s Birdsall’s spun 125,000 pounds of wool a year and employed a hundred people, producing cashmeres, flannels, yarns and blankets. In 1895, Birdsall Brothers was awarded a U. S. government contract to provide 11,000 skirts and 1,300 pounds of yarn for American Indians. By 1921, they employed 150 workers in their main mill and seven other nearby buildings. They owned a shirt factory on 14th Street in Honesdale, and in 1927 purchased the T. B. Clark cut glass factory on Maple Avenue, also in Honesdale. At their peak in the late 1920s, Birdsall Brothers employed 160 workers, but the Depression caused them to close the Maple Avenue factory, and in 1959 the Seelyville factory (shown) was also closed.

From the collection of the Wayne County Historical Society 810 Main St., Honesdale, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, February through April 9 and Wednesday through Saturday, April 16 through December.