Curtis Paper Mill

Curtis Paper Mill. . , In 1783 Thomas Meeteer made a purchase of land in Mill Creek Hundred. By 1797, he owned about 285 acres on both sides of the White Clay Creek. On this land, he develops a farm, a sawmill, a paper mill and housing for his family and his workers. By 1789 operation of the paper mill begins. When the mill first opened, as at all other mills at the time, paper was made by hand. Rags, the raw material, had to be sorted and washed. Clean white rags were the best, for they made the whitest paper. Colored rags had to be boiled in an alkaline solution and exposed to the sun to be bleached. (Cooper, the Curtis Paper Mill Company) , The paper mill and 21 acres of land was purchased by George B. Curtis and Solomon M. Curtis for $4,600 at a sheriff's sale in January 1848. The mill was in need of extensive repairs and capital investments before it could make either paper or profits. In early 1850, George B. Curtis sold his interest in the mill to another brother, Frederick A. Curtis. This new partnership of Solomon M. and Frederick A. Curtis would operate the mill for 34 years. Under their direction, the business was becoming well established. The official name of the firm was now Curtis and Brother and the mill was called the Nonantum Mill. , By mid 1850, the mill employed nine men and six women. Powered by water and steam, the mill used 600,000 pounds of rags per year, costing $30,000, to produce 430,000 pounds of book paper and newspaper valued at $60,000. Through hard labor-even Solomon Curtis wife occasionally worked in the mill-the brothers repaid their creditors by the late 1850s. Production had increased to 500,000 pounds per year by 1860. Ten men and four women worked at Curtis and Brother for an average monthly wage of $28 for men and $15 for women. (Cooper, the Curtis Paper Mill Company) , During World War II, over 50% of the paper made at the Curtis Company was for government use or lend-lease making the mill an essential industry. Thousands of pounds of fiber paper were made and sent to vulcanized fiber factories for conversion into various types of insulation for such things as airplane panels and electrical equipment. (Interview with William White, in Brown, 72) On September 2, 1945, the Japanese signed instruments of surrender on paper manufactured at Curtis Paper Mill. , In 1954 "Little Joe Curtis" (the figure of the boy carrying a stack of paper) was created as a company promotion and appeared on the schedules for the New York and Philadelphia baseball teams. He was very popular and became the company's trademark. (Cooper, 51) , The mill was sold several times through the 1900s. On January 1, 1977, the Curtis Paper Company was purchased by James River Corporation of Richmond, Virginia. The Crown Investment Group bought the mill in 1995 and kept production going until December 19, 1999, when the mill closed its doors for the last time. The Curtis Paper Mill property was purchased in 1999 by the City of Newark and was later developed into the Curtis Mill Park, which was completed in 2014., [Captions:] , A view of the mill, c. 1915. (Courtesy of the Curtis Paper Division, James River Corporation) , "Little Joe Curtis", Curtis Paper Company Trademark , The "Rag Room Ladies" c. 1910 , View of the Mill, c. 1985 , Insurance Survey Nonantum Paper Mill, Curtis and Brother, (1880, Courtesy of the Curtis Paper Division, James River Corporation) , September 2, 1945 Japan signing of the instruments of surrender, prepared by the war department and approved by President Truman, on paper manufactured at the Curtis Paper Mill. , Curtis Paper Mill, lower right c. 1960 (Photo courtesy of Hagley Museum and Library)