W. M. P. & P. Company and the Glen Manufacturing Company
The history of the Glen Manufacturing Company really starts with the White Mountain Pulp and Paper Company. A grant was purchased in September, 1883, by P. W. Locke from Daniel Green. He erected a three ton pulp mill and in December 12, 1883, the company was organized, with a capital of $40,000. B. S. Gibson, of Portland, president; P. W. Locke, treasure; A. M. Munce, clerk. The Company purchased additional power and doubled the capacity in 1885. A year later additions were made, increasing the capacity to six tons a day, and gave employment to 30 men. The mill used about 1,800 cords of poplar and spruce wood per annum, and was lighted at night by 41 of Edison’s incandescent electric lights. In 1886, Mr. Locke’s interest was purchased by Benjamin F. Hosford, of Boston. In July, 1887, the officers were: B. F. Hosford, president; A. M. Munce,
treasurer, superintendent, and clerk. The Glen Manufacturing Company came to Berlin in 1885, purchasing the privilege locally known as the “Great Pitch” from Daniel Green. The built Glen Mill No. 1, which the town exempted from taxation for a period of ten years. The mill was running on May 1, 1886, the first paper machine being named after Charles H. Taylor of the Boston Globe. The largest stockholders of this mill were as follows: John L. Hobson, Henry M. Knowles, Dudley Porter, Isaac B. Hosford, and Charles D. Porter. In 1887, this company added an addition to this mill, giving them three paper machines. In August of the same year, the company purchased the mill of the White Mountain Pulp and Paper Company and incorporating it with their mill No. 5. Mill No. 3 was built in 1889, in 1890 another machine was added to No. 1, and in 1891 No. 4 was built. Mill No. 4 was a very unique building; it had a large brick bell tower. The bell was casted in Baltimore and inscribed on it were the words, “The Consumption of Paper is the Measure of the People’s Culture.” |
In November, 1896, The Glen Manufacturing Company purchased the Nulhigan Lumber Company plant in Upper Coos County for the price of $500,000. In August of the same year they installed three additional paper machines, and with
other improvements, the company doubled their output, and employed 30 more men, which altogether numbered 500 men. One hundred and thirty-five tons of finished newspaper print was produced per day, selling to the New York Tribune, New York News, Boston Globe, Boston Sunday Herald, besides numerous journals of smaller circulation. In February, 1897, the company completed an addition to their mill No. 3. The Company added new machinery, engines, etc., to mills Nos. 1, 4, and 6 of the now mammoth sized plant, which made it the largest newsprint making plant in the world. At this time (1897), the company sold to newspaper offices that stretched from Maine to Texas, and in the British Isles. The weekly pay-roll was $7,000. On February 23, 1897, the state approved the Glen Manufacturing Company’s request to build a branch track connecting this plant to the Grand Trunk Railroad, thus the Glen Junction Transfer Company was formed. Before this, the company had a separate building for shipping products on the Grand Trunk. This building stood just about in back of where the I.G.A. building is today. They had to haul the products from the mill to this building by buggies on a street that was called Tucker Street. In January, 1898, the Glen Manufacturing Company was bought out by the International Paper Company of Rumford, Maine. |
The Glen Manufacturing Company, like the Forest Fibre Company, built homes for their employees. These homes were called the “Glen Cottages” and stood on Glen Ave. When the company was bought by the I. P. Co., it continued operations and was simply called it the company’s Glen Mill. Most of Berlin’s older residents refer to this plant as “the I. P. Mill.” Thanks to the Glen Manufacturing Company, Glen Avenue gets its name.
References
1. History of Coos County, New Hampshire (1888), by George Drew Merrill, pg. 814-815.
2. Traditions and Recollections of Berlin, N.H. (1897), by Bailey K. Davis, pg. 93-95.
3. Second Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire (1898), New Hampshire Bureau of Labor, pg. 20-21.
4. Antique bell to peal again in Baileyville (June 7, 2001), by Diana Graettinger, the Bangor Daily News.
5. Image of W. M. P. & P. Co. (Glen Mill No. 5) from an 1888 map made by George E. Norris.
6. Images of the Glen Mill No. 1 in the late 1880s courtesy of the Moffett House Museum, Berlin, N. H.
7. Image of the inside of Glen Mill No. 1 is from www.berlinhistory.weebly.com.
2. Traditions and Recollections of Berlin, N.H. (1897), by Bailey K. Davis, pg. 93-95.
3. Second Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of New Hampshire (1898), New Hampshire Bureau of Labor, pg. 20-21.
4. Antique bell to peal again in Baileyville (June 7, 2001), by Diana Graettinger, the Bangor Daily News.
5. Image of W. M. P. & P. Co. (Glen Mill No. 5) from an 1888 map made by George E. Norris.
6. Images of the Glen Mill No. 1 in the late 1880s courtesy of the Moffett House Museum, Berlin, N. H.
7. Image of the inside of Glen Mill No. 1 is from www.berlinhistory.weebly.com.