An undated photograph of the Good Tannery located at the west end of Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The individuals in the photograph are not identified.
This tannery was built about 1835 by Daniel Good and Daniel Ritter. A few years after it was established, the partnership was dissolved and Good became the sole owner. In 1893, Michael Hartman bought the tannery from the Good family and operated it until his death, and then his son Charles Hartman operated it until about 1913.
A second tannery near Gratz was operated by the Scheib family. It was located at the intersection of Route 25 and the road lading to Coleman’s Church – east of Gratz.in Lykens Township.
The sudden passing of the tanneries occurred primarily as a result of the development of refrigerated vehicles – railroad cars and later trucks. Prior to this animals raised in the mid-west had to be moved by “drovers” who sent live animals via railway, and then unloaded them and drove them over the public roads to the towns where they would be slaughtered in local butcher shops. Hide collectors made regular visits to these local butchering operations and sold the hides to the local tanneries, which also received hides from hunters, to whom they paid bounties. With butchering taking place elsewhere, the hides ended up being tanned in those locations.
Also, there was a great need for leather harnesses when horses and other beasts of burden were used for heavy farm work and mine work. As farmers and miners turned to mechanized equipment, the demand for leather declined.
One of the only areas where leather continued to be in demand was in the manufacture of shoes. The primarily location for this industry was Halifax and Millersburg.
By 1915, there were no tanneries in the Lykens Valley.
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Photo and information from the Gratz Sesquicentennial Book, 1955.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.