Hudson in 1905: Part 77

The following is an excerpt from the booklet Illustrated Hudson, N.Y., published in 1905.

THE UNION MILLS--In the city of Hudson, N. Y. The company that operates under the title of Union Mills is the result of a consolidation of three of the best known knitting mill establishments in the United States. They are operated under one management at the city of Hudson, under three divisions, known as follows: Union Knitting Company and Harder Knitting Company at Hudson, N. Y., and Sagamore Knitting Company, at Mechanicsville, N. Y. The Union Knitting Company was organized in the 1881, at which time their original mill was built, and with a working capital of $32,000. Afterwards an addition mill was built adjoining the original property, and the capital was increased to $100,000. These mills were totally destroyed by fire in October, 1897, and immediately afterward the present mills were built. The Harder Knitting Company was organized in the year 1882, with a capital of $100,000. These two mills were conducted under separate administrations until in the year 1901, when the Union Mills corporation was organized and both mills were purchased by this company and jointly operated under its management. The officers of the company are as follows: Mr. Wm. Endicott, Jr., of Boston, President; Mr. Frank Remick, of Boston, Secretary; Mr. Joseph Remick, of Boston, Treasurer. The managing officers under whose direction the concern is conducted are Mr. W. Frank Hosapple, General Manager, and Mr. L. Hathaway, Assistant Treasurer, both of Hudson, N. Y. The chief and only product of the mills is Men's Cotton and Wool Fleece-Lined Shirts and Drawers. The capacity of the company for turning out these goods in finished form is continually increasing step by step with the growth of the business. At the present time it is enormous, being the largest in the world of this class of garments, the combined output striking a daily average of about 2,000 dozen shirts and drawers. The plants are provided throughout with the finest and most modern mill machinery. There are in operation at the present time in the mills located at the city of Hudson seventeen sets of cards, seven thousand spindles, and one hundred and thirty knitting cylinders, providing employment for about one thousand hands. Every inch of floor space in the company's two four-story buildings is utilized. The area of the Union Knitting Company buildings is as follows: Main building, 182 feet by 60 feet, with several additions and extensions and tower. The Harder Knitting Company mill covers an area of 242 feet by 54 feet, with tower, dry room, dye house, and two storehouses. 

The selling offices of the company are located at rooms 401 and 402 No. 350 Broadway, New York City, and the business is represented in New York by Mr. W. Frank Holsapple, Manager, from which point all goods are sold. The Union Mills represent the largest establishment of its kind in the country, and the goods are recognized for the superior quality and finish, and they are marked with a world-wide reputation.

The Two Plants of the Union Mills from Illustrated Hudson, N. Y.

The main plant today--now known as the Pocketbook Factory

The site of the second plant--now Providence Hall

Gossips Note: The building that was the Harder Knitting Company plant, at Columbia and Second streets, became first Knauss Brothers mushroom factory and then Candy Lane, a candy factory. In 1979, when the building was abandoned, it was destroyed in a spectacular fire.