Whitaker family photographs

About this collection

    In 1809, the textile manufacturer Henry Whitaker (1763-1849) relocated his firm of Whitaker & Sons in England to New York. In 1813, he relocated again, this time to Cedar Grove, Pennsylvania, along the Tacony branch of the Frankford Creek. There, he founded Cedar Grove Mills, one of the region’s earliest textile mills. After 1822, the business was run by his nephew, William Whitaker (1813-1878), who operated it as William Whitaker & Sons.
    From the 1840s until World War II, the mills specialized in mattress ticking. In 1876, it purchased the nearby Tremont Carpet Mills and expanded into carpet manufacture. After World War II, the firm went into decline as these industries moved south. The mills closed in 1970.
    The Whitaker family photographs (Accession 1982.253) collection consists of photographs related to the life of William Whitaker. They document life, landscapes, and the built environments of southeastern Pennsylvania’s rural manufacturing villages from around 1860 to 1913. They also include images of the friends, family, travel, and property of the Whitaker family. Exterior and interior photographs of the Whitaker’s mansion are featured, as are exterior views of Cedar Grove Mills.
    Image: Boat house and swimming hole, 1879. Click here to view this image in the digital collection.

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