Lutz Woolen Factory (Juniata Woolen Mill), Everett Pennsylvania

Date added: November 07, 2010 Categories: Pennsylvania Mill Industrial

The Lutz Woolen Factory, also known as the Juniata Woolen Mill, is located on the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. It is a two-and-a-half-story building with a full basement and attic. Its four bays of windows are six-over-six, double-hung. The mill is constructed of randomly and roughly coursed limestone rubble and has a gable roof covered with corrugated metal. Three stone walls remain standing; the east (river) wall was washed away by a 1936 flood and is entirely missing, exposing the mill's four working levels and the stuccoed interior walls. The wall of the mill on the river side was not stone but heavy timber-frame construction with wood siding. This side of the building also contained "a stair, an entrance, drive gear openings and fittings." Some pieces of nineteenth-century woolen factory equipment-including two carding machines, a fulling machine, a shearing machine, and an inspection rack-remain within the mill. The wheelpit and millrace are still visible. The mill is associated with Newry Manor, an 1803 German colonial manor house located across the road.

Built in about 1805, the Juniata Woolen Mill is the oldest known woolen mill in Bedford County. It is also reputed to be the first mill west of the Susquehanna River, and the "oldest known unmodified family woolen mill still standing in the United States." It was built by John Lutz, who came to Snake Spring Township from Loudon County, Virginia. The mill originally operated as the Lutz Woolen Factory, and was known by this name throughout most of the nineteenth century. In 1877 the factory was advertised as a manufacturer of "cassimeres, satinetts, flannels, blankets, etc." The woolen mill stopped operating about 1910. Both Newry Manor and the Juniata Woolen Mill are currently privately owned. A non-profit corporation has been formed to seek support for the restoration of the mill (1991).

One mid-nineteenth-century carding machine was removed from the mill is now on display at the William Penn Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A second carding machine from the same period was restored and is in the collection of the Museum of American Textile History in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Lutz Woolen Factory (Juniata Woolen Mill), Everett Pennsylvania VIEW OF MILL SHOWING THE EXPOSED INTERIOR FRAMING; ON THE RIGHT IS A CARDING MACHINE
VIEW OF MILL SHOWING THE EXPOSED INTERIOR FRAMING; ON THE RIGHT IS A CARDING MACHINE