About this collection

In 1809, the textile manufacturer Henry Whitaker relocated his firm of Whitaker & Sons in Rochdale, England to Hudson, New York. In 1813, he relocated again, this time to Cedar Grove, Pennsylvania, along the Tacony branch of the Frankford Creek (now a part of Philadelphia). There, he founded Cedar Grove Mills, one of the region’s earliest textile mills. Whitaker retired in 1822, passing the business on to his sons, Robert and William, who turned it over to their cousin, William Whitaker, who continued to operate the business as William Whitaker & Sons.

From the 1840s until World War II, the mills specialized in mattress ticking, though the firm also manufactured woolen blankets for the war effort during the Civil War. In 1876, it purchased the nearby Tremont Carpet Mills and expanded into carpet manufacture. After World War II, the firm went into decline as the mattress ticking business moved south. The mills closed in 1970.

This collection consists of photographs related to the life of William Whitaker. They document life, landscapes, and the built environments of eastern Pennsylvania’s rural manufacturing villages from around 1860 to 1913, particularly the region around Cedar Grove. 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 in several of these images, as are exterior views of Cedar Grove Mills. Click here to view a finding aid.

Image: Boat house and swimming hole, 1879. Click here to view this image in the digital collection.