Looking back on the history of 213 Chestnut Street
In 1910, when the Rathbone Co. of Utica – an overalls firm – was forced to move, the company decided to come to Oneonta. The site picked was the corner of Chestnut Street and Fonda Avenue. Many meetings were held with city officials, and the Oneonta Promotion Co. was formed. This ad hoc committee instructed Orlo Epps to design 3 plans – one brick, one stone and one wood. The brick was chosen and the building was completed in 1911.
It soon became a very active manufacturing facility opening as the Raymond Overall Co. Manufacture progressed from overalls to the manufacturer of shirts in the 1930’s. In 1938 it was known as the Oneonta Dress Co. where dresses were sewn and hemmed. It has been noted some workers were known to have hemmed 500 skirts per day. It was later called the C. & M. Manufacturing Co. referring to Charles & Meyer Unger (owners). The dresses were cut into patterns in the basement of the building. The dresses were first sewn on the top floor, then hemmed and sent down to the next floor through a large chute. At that point, additional items such as buttons were put on the dresses, and they were pressed. The finished products would be sent back to the basement for shipping to all over the country including New York City. Between 800 and 1,000 dresses were shipped out of the factory each day. Except for a time when the Great Depression had its grip on the nation, the dress factory was always busy.
After World War II broke out, dress manufacturing came to a halt in 1941, and the machinery was temporarily mothballed. The focus turned to the process of splitting mica for the production of wartime electronic capacitors. This process went from raw mica which looks similar to coal, to a finished product, which was pressed into a ribbon-like form and sent to nearby Scintilla in Sidney to complete the manufacture of capacitors. Mica was an insulator for these electronic parts.
Once the war ended in 1945 the workers were not needed until the dress manufacturing resumed. It took about a month to clean out the plant from the mica operation and to resume dress production. In1947 dresses bore the brand name “Jonathan Logan”. They were affordable dresses, sold locally at Bresee’s Department Store. Dress manufacturing continued in the Chestnut building until the early 1970’s.
The building has had many owners and uses through the years comprising both used and new furniture until it found its current life as a multi-dealer antique shop. Brian and Patricia Fisher and Greta welcome you to their pastime, Marketplace on Chestnut.
