Midtown, Kingston

The vacant United States Lace Curtain Mills textile factory, situated on 1½ acres, was built in 1902-03 in the industrial midtown area of Kingston at a cost of $100,00. At its height, the factory employed approximately 300 people, utilized nine looms and used “some four tons of cotton thread weekly to produce approximately 35,000 yards of lace. The product of the mill was lace for use exclusively in curtains”. (As per the United States Lace Curtain Mills application for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.) In 1946, the business was acquired by the Scranton Lace Company. In 1951, the company ceased operations at the factory when operations were moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Today, the factory remains abandoned, although there are discussions to transform the building in to a 55-unit affordable housing apartment complex for artists. The United States Lace Curtain Mills factory was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.