Editing Fulton, Oswego County, New York (section)

==Industrial and commercial history==

American Woolen Mills, a large textile firm located on the west bank of the Oswego River, provided uniforms and other cloth-related supplies for the [[US Army]] in both World Wars. Many early Italian and Polish immigrants lived in simple wood-framed company housing and shopped at the company store during this time period. The factory-owned housing was eventually sold to the employee-occupants. Joining the woolen mills was the adjacent "Silk Mill."  The American Woolen Mills closed their Fulton operations in the early 1950s. The largest buildings were demolished in the summer of 1962.  Another industry located on the west side of the river bank and using the force of the river water to power manufacturing equipment was the Foster Brothers' Knife Works, which produced [[cutlery]]. Besides Poles, the west side of the river was also settled with a sizable community of Italian immigrants as well as Czechoslovakians, Ukrainians, Syrians, and other, mostly Eastern European nationalities.
 
The area on the east side of the Oswego River was originally a part of the [[Volney, New York|Township of Volney]]. Over time the east-side grew in industry, commerce, and residential development. In its prime, the east-side had a significant (several square blocks) downtown area (the primary retail business area was once known as "The Dizzy Block") with nearly one hundred stores and shops.

Several factories were located north and the south of the downtown area along the Oswego River to make use of the rapids and fast-flowing water for power. Some of the industries located here over the years included Hunter Arms, Hunter Bicycle, Hunter Fan, Sealright-Oswego Falls Corporation (later, [[Phillips 66]] Corporation and more recently, [[Huhtamäki]] Consumer Packaging) making paper and plastic coated packaging, Dilts, (later, Black-Clawson), a paper and plastic machine manufacturer.

When Peter Cailer Kohler (later [[Nestlé]], S.A.) began chocolate production in the United States, Fulton became home to the first U.S. chocolate manufacturing facility, notably producing milk chocolate invented by [[Peter's Chocolate|Peter]]. Many Swiss, skilled in the art of making chocolate, followed the company to Fulton and settled here. Many of their descendants still live in the area. In 1938, the Nestle Crunch bar was invented at the facility.<ref>"Nestlé Sources 100% Certified Cocoa Beans For CRUNCH®". Nestlé. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2023. Nestlé Crunch was invented in Fulton, New York, in 1938, and originally sold for five cents as "Nestlé's Crunch" milk chocolate bar with crisped rice."</ref> However, in 2003, after more than 100 years, citing the high cost of restoring and updating the aging plant, Nestle closed the factory, leaving four hundred local employees jobless. Factory employees hung the Nestlé company flag outside the factory upside down the day the closing was announced by company officials.

Subsequent to the closing of the Nestlé plant, investors from [[Ivory Coast]] purchased the chocolate factory and attempted to reopen it as "New York Chocolate and Confections Company". The company filed for bankruptcy and local Oswego County officials tried to find an appropriate buyer for the property so that it could continue to work toward a reopening. On June 30, 2010, the plant and its assets were sold again.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://oswegocountytoday.com/chocolate-plant-sold-to-company-that-sells-to-others/|title=Chocolate Plant Sold To Company That Sells To Others|newspaper=Oswego County Today|first=Dave|last=Bullard|date=1 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214114447/https://oswegocountytoday.com/chocolate-plant-sold-to-company-that-sells-to-others/ |archive-date=14 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Subsequently, the facility was demolished to allow for redevelopment.<ref>{{cite web |title=It's not chocolate, but the old Nestle site is coming back to life: Your Stories |url=https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-stories/its-not-chocolate-but-the-old-nestle-site-is-coming-back-to-life-your-stories/ |website=Your Stories |publisher=WSYR-TV |access-date=18 July 2022}}</ref> Facilities currently operating on the site include an Aldi supermarket<ref>{{cite web |title=New Aldi store opening at old Nestle site rings in new era for Fulton |url=https://cnycentral.com/news/local/new-aldi-store-opening-at-old-nestle-site-rings-in-new-era-for-fulton |website=CNYCentral |access-date=18 July 2022}}</ref> and a Technical Operations facility for Spectrum.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bendekovic |first1=Cory |title=Fulton Celebrates Ribbon Cutting at New Building on Former Nestle Site |url=https://cdmcny.com/fulton-celebrates-ribbon-cutting-at-new-building-on-former-nestle-site/ |website=Construction, Design and Management}}</ref>

The [[Miller Brewing Company]] operated a plant in the Town of Volney, (just outside Fulton city limits) from the mid-1970s until its closure in 1994. The former plant was partially retrofitted and was used for a short time as an [[ethanol]] production facility with only limited production. In 2008, the owners filed for bankruptcy and in May, 2009, the facility was sold at auction to [[Sunoco]]. A retrofit was completed and the facility returned to production of [[biofuel]]s on June 21, 2010.  At full production rate, the renovated plant was able to produce in excess of 85 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year, along with 400 million pounds of animal feed annually.

In September 2019, Attis Ethanol LLC. purchased the facility from Sunoco, which included a 10 year offtake agreement for the sale of ethanol.  In March 21, 2019, the ethanol plant was shuttered and the facility was fully idled in August 2019.  The facility continued to sit vacant and in October 2021, the smoke from burning corn in one of the facility's two silos began to overtake the nearby townships.  The fire was extinguished in October 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hull |first1=Amanda |title=The burning smell from Volney ethanol plant continues to impact the community |url=https://cnycentral.com/news/local/the-burning-smell-from-volney-ethanol-plant-continues-to-impact-the-community |website=CNYCentral |access-date=18 July 2022}}</ref>