Spaulding Fibre

Built: 1911, Closed: 1992, Demolished: 2006

Leatherboard, vulcanized fibre, bakelite and fibreglass. The Spaulding Fibre Company made all these fibre products at their Tonawanda facility. Built in 1911, the plant grew and prospered for many years.

The mid 1960s saw Spaulding Fibre at its peak. It was a major company within Tonawanda, NY, employing over 1,500 workers. Since then, ownership changed a number of times finally resting with Nortek who changed the name to Spaulding Composites in 1988. In 1992 the plant closed, leaving 860,000 ft² of buildings on a 46 acre site. Demolition began in 2006 with the destruction of the 76 meter (250 feet) tall stack.

While the site had seen its share of vandalism since closing, it was still in great shape. There were rooms full of beautiful old equipment, presses and barrels. Regretfully, I never returned to Spaulding Fibre after my initial visit in 2005. Many areas were left unexplored. Many weren't photographed.

Selects

Curves

Lines

Details

Exteriors

The 'B-Roll'

Photos in the “B-Roll” group are (in my opinion) lower-quality images, included for completeness or because they were posted when this site was in its infancy.