Skip to main content

Tanneries and Mills

Image of item

Colonel Pratt and General Samson


Tanneries provided many jobs for the early settlers of the area. Conradt DuBois started the first tannery in the area at Tongore around 1800. In 1832 Daniel Case started a tannery in Shokan and in 1850 Colonel Pratt and General Samson were running a tannery in what is now Samsonville. 

A large tannery was built by Nathan Watson in what is now Watson Hollow. The tannery employed a large number of men and they brought their families to live there. There was a school, a company store, and other commercial establishments.

image for item in a row of 2, linking to full sized image.

Samsonville Tannery

image for item in a row of 2, linking to full sized image.

Samsonville Quarry

Silver Hollow Audio · Jeanette - tanneries_1

Silver Hollow Audio · Raecine and Rodney - Samsonville Tannery

Before the Town of Olive was created, around 1791, Lemuel Winchell had one of the first saw mill, grist mill and carding mills in the area.  By the year 1870 there were 35 mills producing lumber, shingles, barrel heads, barrel staves, and 4 grist mills.

image for item in a row of three, linking to full sized image.

Shurter's Heading and Grist Mill

image for item in a row of three, linking to full sized image.

Shingles From The Mill

image for item in a row of three, linking to full sized image.

Shurter's Grist Mill

image for item in a row of three, linking to full sized image.

Invoice From Zadoc Boice's Mill

Silver Hollow Audio · Raecine and Rodney - The Schurters in Samsonville
A Town Is Born
Tanneries and Mills