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History of Spaulding Fibre

Spaulding Fibre’s origins date back to 1873 when brothers Jonas and Waldo Spaulding formed the Spaulding Brothers Company in Massachusetts. Shortly after, the company’s name changed to Spaulding and Sons when Jonas Spaulding and his family moved to New Hampshire and established leatherboard mills in Milton and North Rochester. The company’s success grew and the Spaulding Brothers’ added a vulcanized fiber operation in 1911 in Tonawanda, NY. The company, was once again, renamed Spaulding Fibre in 1927.

Spaulding Fibre’s Tonawanda Plant located on Wheeler Street started operations in 1912 with 40 employees. While at its peak in the mid-1960s, Spaulding Fibre employed over 1,900 workers, with a $9 million dollar payroll. Unfortunately, labor woes, global economics and the de-industrialization of the Midwest and Northeast all took their toll on Spaulding Fibre leading to its ultimate demise in 1992 under its last moniker Spaulding Composites. The abandoned plant became an eyesore and a Brownfield site that was finally demolished in 2006-2007.