Men working in the Crown Zellerbach paper mill, called the National Paper Products Company. The mill began operations in 1915, and grew to be a very large company. Circa 1950. Carthage, NY.

In 1914 the Zellerbach family of California obtained the rights to a newly developed towel machine and needed to expand.  In 1915 twenty-three year old James David Zellerbach came to Carthage where he leased space in a brick building on Water Street and with one machine began the National Paper Products Company. By 1917 with a railroad siding constructed and additional converting machines, the plant had 35 employees and was producing 3,000 cases of toweling weekly.  This was the birthplace of the National Paper Products Company’s operations.  When that company went bankrupt in 1917, Zellerbach bought it to protect its eastern supply of paper. Town of Champion Archives.

Check out this North Country at Work story to learn more about the history of Carthage’s working class.