Mountain Biking and Hiking Pics - Rich Coffey: JB Williams

Monday, August 30, 2021

JB Williams - Soap Factory and Park

It was once again a hot and unpleasantly humid day. Nevertheless, I decided to go out to explore some local history.

Soap Factory

J.B. Williams Co., was established in 1849 by James Baker Williams. It was the first shaving soap manufacturer in the world. The company made men's toiletries over the next century, including shaving cream, talcum powder and such popular products as Williams' Genuine Yankee Soap, Aqua Velva and 'Lectric Shave.

In 1840 just seven people made all the soap in 1840 but by 1860, the payroll doubled. Men mixed the compounds, boiled the tallow and pressed the soap into bars. Women wrapped and labeled the products. It was one of the first factories to hire women. Ink and blacking -- shoe polish made from a base of apple cider jelly -- were soon added to the product line.

At its peak in the 1950s, the J.B. Williams Co. had a workforce of 230 and a string of well-known products -- Skol suntan lotion, Lectric Shave and Aqua Velva shaving lotions, Conti castile soaps and shampoos and more.

An out-of-state buyer scooped the firm up in 1957. The original 1847 factory was converted into a condominium complex in 1979. In 1983, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The stream runs right through it - how cool is that?!

JB Williams Park

Further upstream from the factory is a park named after JB Williams, and for good reason. The company used the area as a water source and it was eventually used as a reservoir to provide water to local residents until the mid-1960s, when the town finally purchased the property.

I hiked more or less the main loop: