The Legacy of the Faust Tannery
- Yen Ho
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
On the northeastern corner of Butler Avenue and Bethlehem Pike, where the 7-Eleven gas station is located once stood a tannery that was owned by the Faust family. It operated for over 70 years.
Gilkison's "Gilkey's" Corner
Gilkison's Corner was named for the tavern owned by Andrew Gilkison during the American Revolution. In 1790, Jonathan Thomas (-1808) purchased the lot where Gilkison's tavern stood and built a tannery. It was the earliest tannery to open in Montgomery County. After nearly 20 years, the tannery was passed on to James Rutter of Pottstown, and he continued tannery operations for 40 years.
Alvin D. Faust
During his tenure as owner, Rutter had an apprentice named Alvin D. Faust (1825-1884). Alvin was born in Snydersville, Lehigh County, PA where he was educated and introduced to the trade of tanner. In the early 1840s, he came to work with James Rutter as his apprentice.
"He was not to receive any wages for one year, but was to get board and lodging and learn all the 'ins and outs' of the tanning business. At the end of the year James Rutter paid my father $6 a month for his services. My father was not expecting any pay and was agreeably surprised. When he paid my father the extra wages, he said, 'When I made arrangements with your father, John Faust, I did not promise any wages, for I did not know what kind of a Dutchman I was going to get.'"
- Alvin B. Faust (1942)
Alvin stayed in Upper Dublin, but returned to Snydersville in 1843 to care for his ill father. His family also had a tannery business in Snydersville. In order to continue the business, Alvin needed to travel to Philadelphia to get necessary supplies. During those trips, he would visit James Rutter, who was old and ready to sell his business. Knowing that the family tannery business wouldn't support both his and his brother's families, they made the decision to go separate ways.
In December 1850, Alvin purchased Rutter's tannery and farm. He built his homestead five years later, and a new barn in 1862. The water of a nearby stream powered the tannery operations.
Fun Fact # 1: His new neighbors were very generous with him, and were willing to travel to Philadelphia to help him get supplies for his tannery. They had never even been to Philadelphia before!
In 1876, Alvin won a medal for his tanning at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The leather displayed was sold to Josiah Gates & Son of Lowell, Massachusetts a manufacturer of belts.
A.D. Faust's Sons
After Alvin's death in 1884, his sons Edwin (1853-1939), Samuel (1859-1933) and Milton (1860-1937) continued the business under the name A.D. Faust's Sons (later as Ambler Tannery). Richard (1848-1922), the eldest son, moved to Mt. Union, PA to continue the tannery business Alvin originally purchased back in 1873.
The hides tanned at Ambler were sent to Philadelphia, New York, New Haven, Hartford, and the Middle East. The brothers received hides locally, and also from Germany, France, and Spain. The bark they used were from the Blue Mountains and the Lehigh Mountain. They used the hides to make belts and shoes, and harnesses.
"The tanning of hides in those days took eight or nine months. The hides were first soaked in water for forty-eight hours, then the hair was scraped off with a hand iron. They were next placed in solutions of liquor made from grinding up chestnut, oak and hemlock bark. Big vats capable of holding a ton and a half of bark each were sunk in the ground. The plant used 1,000 tons of bark a year in its day. Later, bark became harder to get, and tannic acid was used in its place. A barrel of acid was found to do the work of a ton of bark--and a ton of bark represented so much material that it took two men a solid hour to unload it from wagons."
- Ambler Gazette, November 11, 1943
When World War I broke out, automobiles and trucks came into use. Farms became more mechanized, leading to harnesses becoming useless. As a result, the tannery closed down, making room for new businesses. The tannery building was reborn as a automobile repair service from 1927-1936.
Edwin H. Faust
Edwin H. Faust, one of the five sons of Alvin D. Faust, was born on December 20, 1853 in Upper Dublin. After attending public schools, he went on to attend Muhlenberg College. His interest in business lead to him taking courses at the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Philadelphia. Afterwards, he assisted his father at the tannery. When his father died, he and his brothers Samuel and Milton formed a partnership and continued their father's tannery business.
In 1888, Edwin became a member of the Ambler Board of Education Treasury. He held onto that position for 50 years! Political scientist Martin Kilson spoke about him and his contribution and service to the Ambler public schools in his book. He mentioned a Class of 1935 yearbook that spoke further about his accomplishments as the board treasurer:
The year 1890 is not only a red letter day in the history of the American high school but also in the history of the Ambler Public Schools. It was in this year that the Ambler Borough Public Schools was organized. More remarkable still is the fact that Mr. Edwin H. Faust, elected Treasurer in 1890, has served continuously in this capacity from 1890 to 1935, during the entire period of the development of the Ambler schools, from one small grade school to three large, modern, well-equipped buildings, boasting a Junior-Senior High School enrollment of over five hundred pupils.... He has handled nearly two and one-half million dollars of school funds."
- Ambler High School Class of 1935 Yearbook
Bibliography
"Edwin H. Faust Dies After Long Illness." Ambler Gazette. September 28, 1939. Pages 1 and 5. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_22610.
Faust, Alvin B. "History of the Faust Tannery and Sidelights on the Life of Alvin D. Faust." Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA 3, no. 3 (1942): 172-181. https://hsmcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1942vol3no3.pdf.
Historical Society of Fort Washington. Fort Washington and Upper Dublin. (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2004): 64.
Kilson, Martin. A Black Intellectual's Odyssey: From a Pennsylvania Milltown to the Ivy League. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2021): 33.
Klinge, Frank H. M. Montgomery County 1927 Reading Main Line Vol 1, Plate 29, 1927.
Morris, William E, and Smith & Wistar. Map of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: from original surveys. [Philadelphia: Smith & Wistar, 1849] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012590207/.
Mueller, A. H. Atlas of the North Penn Section of Montgomery County, Pa., Plate 26, 1916.
Ruoff, Henry Wilson. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with an Introductory Historical Sketch, Part 2. (Philadelphia: Biographical Publishing Company, 1895): 571-572.
Scott, J. D. Montgomery County 1877, Upper Dublin, 1877.
"Workmen Begin Demolishing Faust Tannery Near Ambler." Ambler Gazette. November 11, 1943. Page 8. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_20571.
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