Solid as a Rock
Looking northwest. Early photo of the Alpaca Mill on the west side of the Cuyahoga River.
Two men standing on the tow path of the P & O Canal taking in the view.
his alabaster monolith perched between River Street and the Cuyahoga River has had a storied “career.” Best known in an historical context as the Alpaca Mill, it was projected to serve as a silk mill, but also has been a cotton mill, dress factory, machine shop, furniture factory, torque converter factory, and paper box plant.
The exterior of the structure was finished in 1852, though ground had been broken in 1837. The interior was not completed until 1878 or 1879. A local teacher, Julia Ferry, related that a million bricks for the building were furnished by her family’s brickyard on Franklin Avenue.
Land speculation was rampant in Franklin Mills (now Kent) in the 1830s, fueled by plans for the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal. The Franklin Land Co. was formed by Cleveland, Boston, and Ravenna investors. In 1836, they bought 750 acres from Zenas Kent for $75,000, plus additional acreage in the upper village. This company rebuilt the dam, which had been washed out in 1823.
Their “great vision” to manufacture silk in the building was a complete flop. In 1837, the Franklin Silk Co. purchased the holdings for $372,000, a huge sum for the times. An Akron banker imported the mulberry trees upon which the silkworms were to feed. Local farmers were contracted to grow the trees.
But just about the time Barber Clark started to build a cocoonery, the financial panic of 1837 moved into high gear and the company issued scrip. Almost simultaneously came the unwelcome revelation that the climate was not conducive for silkworms to thrive in, and the entire project collapsed.
Script issued by the Franklin Silk Company in 1838.
By 1840, land that had sold for $300-$400 an acre was fetching $10 or $20 an acre. Thanks to Zenas Kent’s foresight, the scrip was redeemed, dollar-for-dollar; Kent had insisted that sufficient securities be set aside to guarantee payment. But the silk company ended in bankruptcy and the land sold to it reverted to the Kent family.
Marvin, Henry, and Charles Kent took oversight of the land from their father, but Henry soon relocated. The other two brothers, along with outside investors, sold 6,000 shares at $25 per share from an investment company they formed, and a facility for milling cotton was undertaken. This was to be the Alpaca Mill.
But the site seemed to be star-crossed. The eastern people who were to operate the firm backed away, and the building sat empty for over 20 years. In 1878, Joseph Turner, who had an alpaca mill in Jamestown, New York, was lured to Kent by guarantees of improvements to the mill on River Street. Marvin Kent and local citizens, by public subscription, paid for the necessary renovations, including an enormous waterwheel placed in a 42x28x22-foot excavation that had to be cut.
Taylor began operations in mid-1879. Not eight months later, darned if he didn’t up and die. Fortunately, he had two sons who assumed stewardship over production. Many local farmers were raising sheep and selling wool to Alpaca. By 1885, 254 looms, 1800 spindles, and 120 employees were kept busy inside the tall white landmark on the west side of the Cuyahoga.
Things went smoothly until 1889, when the Turners and Marvin Kent were unable to reach a new purchase or lease agreement. So, the Turners moved operations to Cleveland, where the company became the forerunner of the Cleveland Worsted Mills. (CWM later became a vital Portage County industry with massive operations in Ravenna).
Marvin Kent died in 1908 and the local lands passed to William Steward Kent. He, in turn, died in 1923. Ella S. Reed, Marvin Kent Curtiss, and Josephine Curtiss Bergin shared inheritance of the property. In the Fall of 1923, John Harris and an associate leased the structure to a firm that manufactured dresses there. A few years later, the Stewart Machine Company occupied space there, and about the same time, the Ferry Machine Co. had its beginnings there.
In late 1928, Loeblein, Inc. leased the premises, purchasing it in 1935. The company manufactured high quality upholstered furniture on-site until 1956, when it relocated to North Carolina. Later, the Fageols bought the historic building and used it to build and store torque converters.
From 1967 until 2001, it has been home to the Portage Paper Box Company (Portage Packaging), carrying on a tradition of manufacturing in one of the county’s highest-profile buildings.
source: Kent Visitor Guide, 2002 – excerpt from Days of Yore
Today, condominiums fill the top floors. Retail and office space occupy the first two.
