Briarcraft

Briarcraft is an American pipe factory that produced in the first half of the twentieth century in the town of Spring Valley, New York State. The factory was founded by Richard Kliethermes Sr. It was considered one of the largest mass-production workshops in the country during the interwar period, ranking second in size, according to records, only to the Medico factory. The company closed in 1950.

Factory and Family

The Kliethermes family business lived through its most productive period between 1920 and 1940. After the founder's death, management passed to his son Richard Kliethermes Jr.; his death in 1943 coincided with the same years as the contraction caused by the Second World War. The war also directly struck the briar supply. Until then the factory had brought its blocks in from Africa; when imports were cut off, a domestic root from South Carolina, similar in character to briar, began to be used. Business never returned to its former level, and the plant closed in 1950.

The first site of production was on Pipetown Hill Road, a name itself associated with pipe craftsmanship; the machines were turned by water power supplied by a dam on Hyenga Lake. The workshop was initially a two-storey wood-frame building, and a two-storey stone building was later added alongside it. The factory later moved to the town centre, to a facility on Central Avenue.