Westvaco Paper Mill

[debodun]

This was one of the largest employers in my locale. Men who didn't work there or on the railroad or at General Electric, didn't work. When it went OOB in 1971, Mechanicville, NY became a bedroom community (more like ghost town) and lost a many businesses that had flourished for years. Now it's a huge pit in the ground awaiting development, which not many local folks want.

 

[Aunt Bea]

The same story all across America.

From the days when communities were proud of their smokestacks, in those days smokestacks were symbols of prosperity not pollution.

All in all I think it's better today. My parents both worked at mind numbing factory jobs to provide me with a better life and I thank them for that.