Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives
In the early 1900s, Pennsylvania mills accounted for about one-third of the silk manufactured in the United States. In 1912, Philadelphia boasted 40 silk factories, including Sauquoit, one of the largest silk mills in Pennsylvania, which had 400 looms and 20,000 spindles. Headquartered in New York, the Sauquoit Silk Manufacturing Company also operated mills in Scranton and Bethlehem.
