Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Industry & Commerce

Location

21 Hill Cottage Rd, Warrensburg, NY 12885, USA

Lat/Long

43.584513, -73.863829

Grant Recipient

Johnsburg Historical Society

Many early tanneries were located in the Adirondack region of New York due to the abundance of hemlock forests. The depletion of these forests by the late 1800s signaled the end to the tanning industry in this area. The Glen Tannery is first mentioned in an 1845 deed, but secondary sources show it may have existed as early as 1835. By 1860, it was processing about 8,000 hides per year for the manufacture of shoe sole leather. At its height, the tannery employed about 9 men, most of whom were Irish immigrants, according to U.S. Census records.

The Glen is a small hamlet located along the Hudson River in the Town of Johnsburg. The site of the former tannery, located on the north side of Glen Creek, is currently bisected by the bridge carrying NY State Route 28 over the creek.

The names Gilchrist and Thurman have a long history in New York State as both families had extensive land holdings. According to the Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress, John R. Thurman (1814-1854) served in the House of Representatives from 1849-1851 after which he returned to Warren County to manage his business interests. Robert Gilchrist (1795-1869) was the eldest son of Robert Gilchrist (1773-1817), a New York City businessman with extensive landholdings in Franklin County, New York. According to the New York Almanack (17 Dec 2020), the Gilchrist family holdings also extended down to South Carolina.

An archeological team from the New York State Museum excavated the tannery site in 2001. They noted this tannery, one of the few with existing remains, is “locally prominent and regionally representative of tanneries.”