Smokestack Lightnin': UPDATE

We recently received some new information about the old Curtis Paper Mill smokestack in Newark, Delaware, that Mick Melvin posted about in the fall of 2010 (see September 12, 2010, "Smokestack Lightnin'").

Backside fan David Huntley tells us that the stack, which since 2007 has been the sole remnant of the factory that stood there since the Industrial Revolution, is slated for demolition.

"There is a pre-demolition meeting scheduled in a couple of weeks to discuss HAZMAT removal and disposal," David said in an email. "I expect demolition to occur within the month if there are no weather or other impediments."

David was kind enough to send us a few close-up shots, in which you can see the stack's comprised condition.

(Curtis Paper Mill smokestack, Newark, Delaware)

(Curtis Paper Mill smokestack, Newark, Delaware)

Smokestack Lightnin'

From Mick Melvin:

On a trip to Pennsylvania to visit my family, I took a side trip to Delaware to visit my best friend. As I drove on Route 72, I noticed a lone smokestack in a vacant lot in Newark. It got me thinking of its origins. On my way back to PA, I took some shots of the structure and noticed the name Curtis embedded on the smokestack. When I returned home, I went to the Internet to investigate and was quite surprised to find plenty of info on this site.



The smokestack is the only structure left from The Curtis Paper Mill. The complex was purchased by the Curtis brothers in 1848, although a mill had existed on the site since the late eighteenth century. The mill was also known as the Nonantum Mill, which refers to the Indian name for an area in Newton, Mass., where the Curtis brothers grew up (an area known colloquially as The Lake, and which is about a five-minute walk from my house -- ed.).

The James River Corp. later purchased the plant, but the mill closed in 1997. The plant was eventually demolished in December 2007, leaving the smokestack as the lone reminder of years past. An effort is under way to save the stack from demolition.