Pioneer Mill
Town of Milton, Saratoga County, New York
Marker Inscription
Historic early 19th-century water-powered paper mill. Built by George West the "Paper Bag King." Destroyed by fire in 1869. Rebuilt 1870 and operated until 1899, producing manila paper from hemp.
The Story
In the paper-making valleys of upstate New York, water power turned wood and fiber into industry, and George West built one of the mills that made Saratoga County a papermaking center. Known as the "Paper Bag King" for perfecting machinery that mass-produced the folded paper bag, West ran this water-powered mill making manila paper from hemp. Fire leveled it in 1869, but it was rebuilt the following year and ground on until 1899, at the close of the century that had turned American milling from craft into industry.
Why it matters
It marks how small water-powered mills fed the Gilded Age boom in manufactured paper and packaging — the humble paper bag among them — that reshaped American commerce and daily life.
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Related people
- · George West
Themes & tags
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