Pennsylvania Match Factory, Bellefonte, Centre County

We've had suspiciously decent weather in recent days. February feels more like early April. I'm not sure I trust it, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

For this week's quest, we're heading back to beautiful Centre County, which I visited with husband Kevin last summer on his birthday trip. The weather was much more predictable on that occasion, since one generally knows what to expect from July, and we were charmed by the county seat of Bellefonte. The community has a lot of markers, including one for what I hadn't realized was once a major industry in central Pennsylvania.

The marker stands at the intersection of Willowbank Street
and Phoenix Avenue. The actual factory complex stands
on what is now Match Factory Place.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match...

Okay, I can't resist a good pun, but this really is a story about making matches. Not romantic ones, of course, the other kind.

The story in question broke in September 1899, when a trio of businessmen in Bellefonte combined their resources to form the Pennsylvania Match Company. According to an article in the New York Times, this was done "in opposition to the trust," but the article doesn't clarify what that actually means and I can't find a mention of it anywhere else. I guess it was such common knowledge in 1899 that they didn't see a need to explain themselves, but that doesn't do much to help me over a century later. Oh well.

Whatever the trust was, it was being opposed by Col. W. Fred Reynolds, Joseph T. Montgomery, and S. A. Donachy. They each brought their own capital, with the sum total of that being $200,000 (quite a princely sum at the turn of the century and still nothing to sneeze at now), as well as unique experience. Donachy had worked as superintendent of the Hanover and York match factories and owned a handful of patents on matchmaking machinery, so he was the chief organizer of the project. Montgomery was in charge of the actual business end of the factory. I'm less clear on what Reynolds contributed; however, he had inherited a large estate from his cousin, including the gorgeous Reynolds Mansion, so it might be that his involvement was chiefly financial.

The factory, which was constructed on what is now Match Factory Place in Bellefonte, initially consisted of a two-story brick building, plus adjacent boiler, chemical, and engine houses. In 1900 production began, creating and selling boxes containing 200 individual matchsticks. Forgive me for punning again, but the company's success spread like wildfire - by 1911, they had become one of the country's eight largest producers of wooden matches. By 1931, they had close to 400 employees, and had expanded into a complex of eighteen buildings. The postcard at left, which I found on eBay, depicts the factory compound as it appeared in 1910. (The Hometown Historian uses the same postcard in his video, which I didn't see until after I found it myself!)

The factory began changing hands during World War II. It was bought out by the Universal Match Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, who proceeded to paint their company name across three of the buildings in giant letters. Documents suggest that it was sold to other owners and operated under different names, although I don't find any confirmation of who or what beyond Universal. In any case, by 1947 the demand for individual matchsticks was dwindling; as the marker states, they were facing too much competition from makers of matchbooks (easier to carry around) and lighters. After not quite fifty years in business, the match factory closed its doors. The buildings were sold to a local lumber company, M. L. Claster & Sons, who used it for offices and storage space for decades. When Clasters was sold to another company, the former match factory was left vacant. In the 1990s the property was sold to a company who hoped to revitalize it as a brewery, but weren't able to raise the funds.

Fortunately, the factory still survives. The Borough of Bellefonte took ownership of the property in 2000, as part of their impressive efforts to revitalize the waterfront district. They successfully applied to have the factory added to the National Register of Historic Places, and expanded nearby Talleyrand Park in such a way as to connect the factory grounds to the rest of downtown Bellefonte. The factory was then sold again, this time to the American Philatelic Society, which had previously been headquartered in nearby State College. The factory was renovated and today serves as the Society's library - a magnificent and elegant facility dedicated to research, reading, and historical preservation.

See it for yourself - either in person on a visit to Bellefonte or by visiting their website. They've got thousands of resources for stamp collectors, and the building is open to anyone who wants to see what they've done with the old match factory.

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Sources and Further Reading:

Author unknown. "AN INDEPENDENT MATCH PLANT: Bellefonte (Penn) Business Men Will Oppose the Trust." The New York Times, September 30, 1899.

Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Commission. "Virtual Walking Tour of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania: Stop 41B, The Match Factory." Date unknown, BellefonteArts.org

Grove, Tara Murray. "Transforming a Match Factory into the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania." (PDF download.) New Libraries in Old Buildings, De Gruyter, 2021.

The Hometown Historian. "Pennsylvania Historical Marker Series: Pennsylvania Match Factory." YouTube, November 16, 2021.

Pennsylvania Match Factory at the Historical Marker Database

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.