[2] Alexander Fridge, George and William Morris founded the Thistle Manufacturing Company in 1824 with the purchase of the property from the Ellicott brothers.

[5] In 1919 Edward A.A. Blakeney purchased the plant for cotton duck production, and electrified operations in 1925, but shifted to tire fabric manufacturing.

Bartigis was purchased by E.H. Lupton, and was sold to the New Haven Board and Carton Co. in July 1957 and later, Simkins Industries, Inc.[6] The 250 employee factory produced recycled paper products with printing operations from 1919 to 1964.

[citation needed] In 1972, the factory was devastated by Hurricane Agnes and then again by a four-alarm fire just four months later, though did recover back into operations within the ruins.

On the site were the remains of what might have been the village's church and school, with a graveyard above the ridge, though many other buildings and the company houses for employees on Hilltop Road had been destroyed by flooding or demolished over the years.

[8] In June 2003, a four alarm fire broke out and forced the facility to close after 46 years of operation as a paper recycling plant.