{"nrhp_refnum":"05000758","name":"McCollum and Post Silk Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"368 Madison Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nazareth Borough","county":"Northampton County","state":"PA","lat":40.73912693800003,"lon":-75.31845016599993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-07-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick silk mill at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Wood Street in the Borough of Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, erected in 1913 for the McCollum and Post Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill is significant as an example of the silk industry in the Lehigh Valley during its peak years before and during the First World War, when the mill operated until 1936. It also argues the building is significant for its architecture, combining 19th-century industrial forms and construction methods with 20th-century features. The building was adapted for elderly housing in 2001, and the nomination notes that this adaptation kept the original mill form and details visible.","narrative":"Built in 1913 as a silk mill on Madison Avenue in Nazareth, this two-story brick building has a gable roof running between brick end walls with stepped parapets, and its long facades are divided by brick pilasters into bays with large window openings. The McCollum and Post Company, a Paterson, New Jersey firm, opened the mill in February 1913 at the height of the regional silk boom. The mill produced silk until 1936, when competition from synthetic fabrics ended silk production locally. Later tenants included a rug mill, needle-trade firms, and an apparel cooperative. The building's plan and timber framing reflect late nineteenth-century silk mill practice, while its flat brick lintels and lack of ornament show the economic pressures of the industry. The mill is regarded as an example of the silk industry in transition in the Lehigh Valley. In 2001 the building was converted into apartments for elderly residents, and its original form remains legible.","period_of_significance":"1913-1936","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Commercial Style, Late 19th and early 20th Century American Movement","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Adapted for reuse as housing for the elderly in 2001; the 1967 addition was demolished as part of the adaptation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.204246-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/05000758.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000758/bea01b6a4d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000758/bea01b6a4d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shuvaev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McCollum_and_Post_Silk_Mill_01.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Shuvaev</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McCollum_and_Post_Silk_Mill_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996677","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCollum_and_Post_Silk_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6800437"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/northampton-county/mccollum-and-post-silk-mill-05000758/"}