Huntsman Pigments Corporation's (Venator Materials / Pfizer) Easton Pennsylvania plant. This factory officially closed in late 2017, at which time the remaining 80 employees all lost their jobs. During its vacancy, the factory was relatively well watched by guards who would sit in a security shack out front and stare at a monitor relaying footage from various security cameras positioned around the exterior of the property. What made this factory interesting is that many of the buildings dated back to the late 1800s and were connected by tunnels. Many portions of the complex had been abandoned for decades prior to the official 2017 closure. Numerous signs were posted on doors that read "Do Not Enter Abandoned Area"; of course all these doors were unlocked and lead to some pretty interesting areas of the factory, including some funky 1970s era laboratories.
Over the course of its 100+ year existence, this factory was used to develop and produce rust colored pigments, which resulted in everything in the factory being coated and stained with this nasty red powdery material. After exploring this property I can recall my boots being stained so red that I contemplated throwing them out. In early 2020 the pigment plant was sold to a developer and over much of 2021, the buildings were demolished. There's still a few small structures left standing, but the property is well over 90% gone. I suspect it will be turned into unaffordable housing or maybe a Wawa next to a couple more Wawas. Regardless, an environmentally positive demolition, as often chemicals were discharged into the adjacent Bushkill Creek, turning the river water a deep brownish red, resulting in mass fish kills. During demolition it was discovered that a second small creek was actually buried beneath the factory and enclosed within a cement tunnel.
One day I will get around to posting my full set from this factory, it was a relatively neat and untouched industrial location to roam around. With its demolition now nearly complete, the physical remnants of the Lehigh Valley's once rich industrial past continue to erode away. However, on a more positive note, directly across from the Huntsman Pigment Factory exists the Simon Silk Mill, a once abandoned wasteland which has been completely restored into various storefronts and upscale apartments. I was happy to see that the silk mill buildings were preserved with much of their original charm intact, even the powerplant remains!
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