The Flywheel: A Monument to Piermont's Industrial Past

The Flywheel: A Monument to Piermont's Industrial Past (HM2K5D)

Location:
Buy flags at Flagstore.com!

N 41° 2.494', W 73° 54.879'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 336 views
Inscription
flywheel: (noun) A heavy-rimmed rotating wheel that uses its momentum to minimize speed variation in a machine.
Workers installed this flywheel in 1902 as part of the Piermont Paper Company's steam driven electrical system. Piermont became a cardboard manufacturing center because the Sparkill Creek supplied fresh water to process the paper, and an existing railroad could carry supplies in and out of the plant. For 80 years, this flywheel helped power a succession of mills that recycled wastepaper into paperboard.
The steam that powered the flywheel also heated the 93 rollers that dried the pulp for two behemoth paper making machines. Each longer than a football field and weighing hundreds of tons, they were among the largest in the world. Some say on stormy nights you can still hear the thunderous din of the 25-cycle generator.
The Robert Gair Company bought the mill in 1920. Gair was a leader in the paper industry and had introduced the first affordable cardboard box. The mill employed 1,300 people with more than 85 percent of its $1.25 million annual payroll going to local employees. Village grocers, butchers, doctors, banks and other businesses prospered.
The wheel kept spinning through two world wars and the Great Depression. Toward the end of World War II, the plant's peak production



years, up to 480 tons of paperboard a day were churned.
Gair merged with Continental Can in 1956. The Federal Paper Board Company leased the mill from 1971 until 1973, when Clevepack bought it. The mill closed permanently in 1982.
After a search for a replacement industry, the village revitalized this valuable riverfront property with a mixed commercial-residential development. When demolition began for Piermont Landing, workers struggled to remove the flywheel, but the wrecking ball just bounced off. Leave it, they were told. Let it stand as a monument to Piermont's industrial past and to the hard working men and women who were a part of it.
Details
HM NumberHM2K5D
Tags
Placed ByPiermont Historical Society, Piermont Civic Association, and Piermont Chamber of Commerce
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, August 31st, 2019 at 2:03pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18T E 591222 N 4543938
Decimal Degrees41.04156667, -73.91465000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 41° 2.494', W 73° 54.879'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds41° 2' 29.64" N, 73° 54' 52.74" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling West
Closest Postal AddressAt or near , ,
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Nearby Markersshow on map
Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What country is the marker located in?
  2. Is this marker part of a series?
  3. What historical period does the marker represent?
  4. What historical place does the marker represent?
  5. What type of marker is it?
  6. What class is the marker?
  7. What style is the marker?
  8. Does the marker have a number?
  9. What year was the marker erected?
  10. This marker needs at least one picture.
  11. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  12. Is the marker in the median?