13 Things Once Made in Beacon, NY

If you know anything about Beacon's manufacturing history, you probably think of bricks and hats.

But the city has a long history as an enterprising, industrial city, responsible for producing an array of products. The Fishkill Creek and its jointure with the Hudson River and therefore easy access to New York City made

The Beacon Historical Society at 61 Leonard St. is celebrating the city's legacy with an exhibit titled "Proudly Made in Beacon, NY," which will be on display through Aug. 31.

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Here are some of the products on display that were once made in Beacon.

Bricks

Yes, as any Beacon homeowner who has dug in their garden and found a pile of DPBW-stamped bricks knows, Beacon was a prime producer of bricks.

Dennings Point Brickworks employed 145 men and produced 300,000 bricks per day during its height in the 1920s. The source of clay at the site was exhausted by 1939 and new factory was built further north.

Hats

Beacon was once known as the hat capital of New York and was second only to Danbury, Conn. in terms of hat production.

Some 11 hat manufacturers made Beacon home between the 1920s and the 1940s, according to the Beacon Historical Society. The most prominent of these was the Tioronda Hat Works.

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Shoes

The Fishkill Boot and Shoe company only lasted a year from 1887 to 1888. After producing shoes and boots for men, women and children, the owners of the factory skipped town for Massachusetts, later sending a note to their wives to come and join them, the Beacon Historical Society display notes.

Nabisco Packages

Nabisco opened a printing and carton plant in Beacon in 1929 that produced the millions of boxes the Nabisco products came in.

The factory employed over 600 men and women at its height in 1953. Nabisco sold off the factory in 1985.

Bookie Blox

This product puts looks like pre-historic tablet.

Bookie Blox was a 1920s toy featuring two wooden blocks with a metal hinge. Scenes from popular nursery rhymes were painted on all each side of the blocks, giving an appearance of a book.

Sculptures

The Tallix Art Foundry produced hundreds of sculptures during its time in the former Green Fan factory in Beacon. The impressive artwork produced in the factory included the Korean War Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

Soap

The Beacon Soap Company produced soaps that promised to display pictures on the bar that would not wash away.

When businessman William Randolph Hearst was launching a political career, he invested in thousands of bars of soap with his face on it as a marketing device to hand out at campaign rallies, according to the Beacon Historical Society.

Archery Bows

Ply-Flex fiberglass archery bows were once made in Beacon.

Fireworks

Chiarella Fireworks operated near the foot of Mount Beacon until a deadly accident with exploding fireworks in 1924 that killed one worker, destroying the factory and causing $50,000 worth of damage to neighboring buildings and homes.

Industrial Fans

The Green Fan company sold industrial fans and rotors around the world. The company would close by the 1980s.

Paint

Ben Hammond was an enterprising businessman who set up a paint and gardening supply store. His company produced a line of paints that included the color "Mt. Beacon Green."

Insecticide

In addition to paints, Hammond company produced a insecticide called Hammond's Slug Shot, which promised to rid gardens of unwanted pests.

Rubber

The New York Rubber Company produced rubber balls, dolls, toys, hoses, belts and rafts. The factory employed over 600 men and women at its height in 1944. It would shut down in May 1960 following a worker strike.