Rockland Industries

Rockland Industries, Inc. is a textile manufacturing company and the inventor of coated blackout curtain and drapery linings. The company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and has manufacturing facilities in Bamberg, South Carolina. Rockland Industries has sales in the United States and in more than 90 countries worldwide.

The company was founded as Rockland Bleach and Dye Works in 1831 by three brothers from England, James, Robert and John Wright, in the Rockland Historic District of Brooklandville, an area of present-day Baltimore, and is recorded as the oldest corporation in Baltimore County. Rockland Bleach and Dye Works produced premier cotton and Irish woolens that were used all over the United States.

The current location of the headquarters and Baltimore manufacturing on Edison Avenue has a rich history, as it used to be Bugle Field. Bugle Field was primarily used as negro league field that was home to the Baltimore Elite Giants and Baltimore Black Sox from the late 1920s until around 1950. It was home to great players such as Roy Campanella and was also the site that several Major League Baseball players were discovered, as Bugle Field was owned by the owners of the former Washington Senators and a local laundering company that has since also closed.

In 1944, Alexander Leaderman, a decorated U.S. Army officer, purchased the company after returning home from WWII and renamed it Rockland Industries. The new company introduced the concept of lining curtains with a specially treated fabric to prevent them from being damaged by sunlight and moisture, much the way linings protect clothing fabric. In 1963, Rockland patented and introduced Roc-lon Rain-No-Stain, the first brand name curtain lining ever produced. The product featured insulation properties, oil and water-borne stain repellency, as well as a UV inhibitor for protection against fading. Roc-lon Rain-No-Stain was awarded the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval in 1964, the only drapery lining ever awarded that recognition.

...
Wikipedia