B.F. Gladding Co., South Otselic, N.Y. 1

B.F. Gladding Co., South Otselic, N.Y. 1

Image of a large 19th century frame industrial building on the bank of a river. A water tower looms above it. At the left is a steel truss bridge supporting a roadway in front of the factory. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to New England or upstate New York. The glass plates would be sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. The B. F. Gladding Co. produced (rope) line and cordage beginning in 1895, and employed a significant part of tiny South Otselic's population for decades. This and other local industries and agriculture in this remote and rugged valley setting along the Otselic River were served by the Auburn branch of the Oswego-Midland Railroad. According to the site's National Register of Historic Places nomination: "The firm, founded by John Gladding in 1816, had previously been located 1-1/2 miles south of the hamlet. By mid-century there were ten employees (besides family members) and products included pulley cords, halters, bed cords, chalk lines, and fishing lines. The business grew steadily, eventually achieving a national standing in the specialized line/cordage markets. Gladding's new home in South Otselic afforded it several advantages: closer proximity to labor and supply markets, ample room for a new factory and future expansion, and readily available water power. The hamlet benefited from additional jobs created as the factory expanded and from the paternalistic attitude of the Gladding family, which engaged in many public-spirited ventures. When the company built a dam and pipeline to power its machinery, the system was shared with the hamlet to provide a dependable public water supply and fire protection for the community. Gladding also installed the first public telephone system, built sidewalks, and stocked the Otselic River with trout."