J.S. O'Connor American Rich Cut Glassware Factory
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J.S. O'Connor American Rich Cut Glassware Factory
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| Location | 120 Falls Ave., Hawley, Pennsylvania |
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| Coordinates | 41°28′31″N 75°10′17″W / 41.47528°N 75.17139°WCoordinates: 41°28′31″N 75°10′17″W / 41.47528°N 75.17139°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP reference # | 05000206 |
| Added to NRHP | March 23, 2005 |
J.S. O'Connor American Rich Cut Glassware Factory, also known as Maple City Glass Company, H.W. Kimble Silk Company, and Arrow Throwing Company, is a historic glassware factory and silk mill located at Hawley, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. With the waning of the canal and gravity rail operations in the late 19th Century, Hawley developed into a busy manufacturing town. In addition to silk fabric and garments, among the chief products was fine cut glass. The leading cut glass establishment was that of John Sarsfield O’Connor (1831 - 1916) at the base of the Paupack Falls. The building was built on the site of previous mills of wood frame construction in 1890. The earliest of these dates back to the founding of the hamlet of Paupack Eddy, the forerunner of Hawley, in the closing decade of the 18th Century. It is a three-story, 160 feet long and 44 feet wide, bluestone building in the Federal style, with an addition 40 by 75 feet. J.S. O’Connor Rich Cut Glass has been described as one of the most extensive glass cutting factories in America. O’Connor is recalled as one of the finest glass cutters in the nation. The factory was said to be one of its kind in America, run by water power and lit by electricity generated by its own electrical plant. The firm had a capacity of 250 cutting frames. When the third floor was rebuilt, 50 cutting frames were added. This brought the workforce from 150 to nearly 200, and a new showroom was built. Another reference says that the workforce eventually reached almost 300. In 1902, the cut glass firm relocated from Hawley to Goshen, Orange County, NY. On January 16th of that year, J. S. O’Connor sold his Hawley plant. The addition was built in 1926, when the building was converted to a silk throwing mill. In 1941 Daniel Vacca Sr, purchased the silk mill. Vacca & Sons operated the Arrow Throwing Company at the facility. During World War II, the Vaccas were a major supplier of yarn for emblems and insignias as well as nylon cord for parachutes. Arrow Throwing Company, the last remaining silk mill in Hawley and one of the few throwing mills left in the Northeast, closed its doors in 1987. Soon a lobby was added to the building by new owners in 1988, when converted to an inn, and a restaurant was added years later. It has a shed roof and features pedimented windows and a decorative cornice.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
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