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History 204 Sp 08 | Political Life | Cultural Life | Economic Life | Essays of 1876

Carlisle 1876: The Dawn of Commercial Industrialization

Pictures of Businesses in Carlisle during the growth of Commercial Industrialization

In the United States, the 1800s was known as the century of industrialization. Until the mid 1870s, Pennsylvania faced a transformation from agriculture to industry with an increase in labor forces and the establishment of new technologies. New types of industry rapidly grew due to new methods and machinery, which increased production. These factors influenced all aspects of life and transformed Carlisle into a commercial industrial town by the 1890s. Elements of Carlisle's early industry were necessary to begin this rapid transformation.

After 1840, the emergence of the railroad shifted Pennsylvania's primary focus from agriculture to the manufacturing of iron and mining of coal. The establishment of the railroad and Pennsylvania's dominance in iron and steel production rapidly developed the economy and industry.1 Railroads greatly influenced industrial growth because they created more direct routes connecting small towns to larger cities thus providing access to larger markets and raw materials.2 Railroads also reduced transshipment, provided greater speed, safety, and certainty on shipping and delivery dates.3 The Cumberland County Railroad, established in 1838, was a major line connecting Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Carlisle, Newville and Shippensburg together allowing for the exchange of goods and materials. Connection to larger markets increased the demand of specialization in crafts thus increasing productivity.4

The demand for manufactured goods plus the massive immigration movement between the 1840s and the 1890s launched the commercial industrial growth of Cumberland County.5 The rapidly growing population provided a growing labor force and expanded the number of consumers, broadening markets and permitting a greater degree of specialization.6 Labor availability sped Pennsylvania's urbanization providing for the advancement of the new class of craftsmanship. Due to the rapid expansion of industry, there grew a large contrast between rural and urban communities. A national emphasis upon industry and manufacturers to get ahead in urbanization caused this growth, which drew many farmers to the city because of the economic and cultural opportunities.7

In the early 1870s, Carlisle transformed itself from an "industrious village" to a center of industry. By 1870, this transition occurred with the development of transportation, growth in population and an increasing demand for manufactured goods. After the Civil War population grew with the extension of town limits.8 Carlisle's population grew from 1860 of 5,6649 to 6,650 in 1870.10 As population grew, so did the working class. In 1870, manufacturing in Pennsylvania surpassed agriculture by 96,189 occupants.11 The major population of Carlisle workers in lived in the same ward located near their respective factories. The growth in population encouraged the capital accumulation that gave rise to economic progress.12 After the civil war, incomes rose and consumers increased their spending for manufactured products. The rise of financial investment placed a greater demand on the manufacturing industries.13 This investment funded the growth of many new industries, producing more jobs and more income. Many of these large industries began near railroads and banks in order to ship their products and fund their growth.14 Banks at this time in Carlisle were the Carlisle Deposit Bank, the First National Bank and Farmer's Bank.15 Around 1876 new industries would emerge, beginning Carlisle's growth in commercial industrialization.

View of Carlisle in the early 1870s (courtesy of the Cumberland County Historical Society)

Before 1870, the "industrious village" housed distilleries, tanyards, forges, brickyards, and carriage shops. By 1872, Carlisle's growth of labor force and the access to railroads produced industries such as rugs, shoes and pumps.16 The 1872 Atlas of Cumberland County provides a list of businesses related to the manufacturing of agriculture implements, carriages, boots and shoes, brick and iron.17 The emergence of new power sources, coal and steam engines, contributed to the change in productivity from handcraft to factory built goods.18 The new power enabled a far greater production of goods and subsequently created new, larger factories and sophisticated machines. Beginning in the 1870's mechanization led to radical transformation in production techniques that spurred industry for the rest of the century.19 The switch to factory production allowed for the expansion and development of commercial industries, which would continue to grow in Carlisle until the early twentieth century.20

Carlisle's first major pre-commercial industry was the Beetem Carpet House, established in 1875. Edward Charles Beetem and John C. Stephens, under the firm name of Stephens and Beetem, founded the Carlisle Carpet House in 1875, located on East Main Street.21 Pennsylvania was the first of all states in the manufacturing of carpets and rugs, Carlisle becoming a principal seat of this industry with Beetem Carpet House as the leading retail carpet store in the county.22 After four years, the increase in demand and production required the factory to move to a large site on Bedford Street. When Stephens died in 1901, the firm took on Beetem's sons, E.C Beetem, C.G. Beetem, and W.E. Johnson. The growth in production forced the company to move yet again to the corner of Louther and Spring Garden Street. The business was renamed the Carlisle Carpet Mills and manufacture linens, domestics, finest rags and yarn, jutes, along with their staple, wool carpets. With the help of the railroad, Beetem Carpet expanded their market reaching New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the western states.23 Similar to the Carpet Mill, another industry was beginning its rise into a major corporation in the 1870s.

In Carlisle, car and machine manufacturing began its growth in 1877 with FG & Co's Railroad Car Building and Machine Works.24 The original company F Gardner & Sons was founded by Frank Gardner in 1840 located on East High and Bedford Streets. With its new name, the company became a major provider for nearby industries for manufactured freight cars, railroad crossings, and machine implements. In the 1880s, the rise in railroad construction enabled the company's expansion and increased their production of cars.25 It was less expensive for railroad companies to buy freight cars than make their own; therefore Companies like the Cumberland Valley Railroad would buy cars from independent companies like F Gardner's. The demand for cars increased, which led to the growth and expansion of car companies.26 This growth in turn led to an increase in production of all industries, providing more jobs and more income.

Due to high demand for freight cars, the company continued to expand, but lacked sufficient funds. In 1882, the need for funding opened the company to public investments in stock, and for this purpose incorporated with Carlisle Manufacturing Company. The rise in money flow increased production and the company signed several large contracts with various railroad companies. The incorporation raised production in all industries, providing for new jobs and new housing for Carlisle's growing population.27 Frank Gardner's company would continue to expand past the 1900s under its new owner John Hays, who bought the company in 1898. Manufacturing grew to produce a broad range of products: steam engines, agriculture equipment, building materials, railroad cars, frogs, switches and crossings. New production lent to its new name the Frog, Switch and Manufacturing Co.28 The building, still erected today, can be found in its new location on East High Street and North Spring Garden Street.

Around the beginning of Frank Gardner's company, other industries were at the start of their establishment, like Sherk and Hackman Carriage Factory in 1866,29 the Carlisle Shoe Company in 1869,30 and the Carriage Factory. These businesses flourished due to the increase in the demand of manufactured products providing new opportunities for the community. New machines, methods, and economic organization greatly impacted Carlisle's economy and society, allowing for the transition into full industrialization. After 1886, Carlisle was fully incorporated into commercial industrialization.

Several factors enabled Carlisle's transformation. First, immigration into the United States was at its peak in the 1880's and 1900's, accounting for about one fifth of the increase in population.31 In 1890, Carlisle’s population rose 23% to 7620.32 This influx created a demand for more jobs and more housing. Second, many smaller manufacturing companies were merging into a single consolidated organization with a central headquarter. Consolidation led to a concentration of production in a few large factories. These larger factories were able to develop and apply new technological improvements more easily than could smaller units, leading to the standardization of processes and materials. In turn, the demand for goods increased the demand for the machinery to make those goods, which allowed for the production of distinct industrial tools and instruments.33 Also, after 1890 electrical power was increasingly applied in industrial uses, increasing productivity rate.34 The development of new products, machinery and equipment, organizational processes in the manufacturing sector and the establishment of corporate stock, were key factors in American economic growth in the nineteenth century.35

View of Carlisle in the late 1880s (courtesy of the Cumberland County Historical Society)

Up until 1886, Carlisle's economy was idle in comparison to larger towns. To launch Carlisle's industry, the Carlisle Land and Improvement Act of 1890 provided 165 acres in northwest quarter of town for industrial growth.36 New streets were established, old ones extended, and new lots were sold to the public for more housing. By stretching the town limits to include more factories and more people, this act created an industrial section of town. Seven new factories developed: the Lindner Shoe Co., Bedford Shoe Co., the Paper Box Factory, Overall Factory, Silk Mill, Carriage Factory and Body & Gear Works. These new industries increased employment and available capital, greatly thrusting Carlisle into the industrial world. The carpet and shoe companies would remain Carlisle's top industries, with Lindner Shoe Co. leading. The success of Lindner Shoe Co. would become an important economic influence throughout the community.37

In 1891, John Lindner greatly changed Carlisle's economy and industry with the opening of Lindner Shoe Co. Previously, Lindner worked as superintendent of GW Neidich & Co., previously called the Carlisle Shoe Company, in 1888. Under his management, this company increased production, becoming the largest shoe manufacturer in America and provided the highest wage for workers. He became a master at shoe manufacturing and opened his own company a few years later in 1891. Lindner’s company rapidly grew employing 500 people and by 1904 increased their capital by $165,000. In 1904, Lindner Shoe Co. was the largest company in Carlisle and the largest factory of women's shoes throughout America. It employed the greatest number of people in the community and distributed the greatest number of products.38 With the growth in size, profit and production, Lindner Shoe Co. became Carlisle's first major commercial industry. This factory paved the way for other commercial industries by using new standardized methods and technologies. With the start of the 1900s, manufacturing continued to develop. In 1917, the Carlisle Tire & Rubber and in 1919 C.H. Masland & Sons emerged, adding to Carlisle’s commercial industrial sector.39

The transformation into commercial industry would continue to progress in Carlisle. First, new technological machinery replaced labor, changing the process of production from handicraft to machine made. Second, the institutionalizing of machine tools and production methods increased growth and productivity in all types of industry.40 Also after 1900, there emerged new power sources, hydroelectric power and electric motor. The new power sped up production rates, especially of iron and steel, which increased the available machinery and allowed for industries to expand in size.41 These elements of manufacturing progressively and continuously developed the society and economy of Carlisle into its present form.

With a transition from small business production to factory manufacturing in 1876, Carlisle began its transformation into a commercial industrial town. Up until then, agriculture and traditional industries, like tanneries and distilleries, were the leading source of economic growth. However, with the convenience of the railroad, influx of immigration and development of new technologies, commercial industry rapidly developed. By the 1890s, Carlisle became a center of commercial industry with markets throughout the east coast. New methods and machinery increased production in every field and created more jobs. The change into commercial industry affected all aspects of town, and would continue to influence society up until present day.

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