The iconic Scranton Lace Factory, part of the city’s industrial heritage, is undergoing an incredible transformation. The long-abandoned factory is being repurposed into a vibrant community space featuring apartments, townhomes and a venue for events.

Marywood history students recently researched the factory and created a digital archive.

Founded in 1890, the Scranton Lace Company became a worldwide producer of Nottingham lace. The factory was a crowded building, filled with almost 1,200 employees. The factory’s important role in the textile industry played a role in Scranton’s economic growth during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The factory took a turn in 2002, causing it to close due to the industrial decline in the region and the lack of ability to modernize the manufacturing process that came along with making the lace.

Finally, after years of sitting as an abandoned historical building, the Scranton Lace Factory is being given a fresh new start. Developers have set out on an immense project to convert the historic site into a multi-use development. The plan includes modern apartments and townhomes to attract new residents while preserving the historical architecture of the old factory.

Dr. Adam Shprintzen, a professor in the history department at Marywood University, has lived in Northeastern Pennsylvania for 10 years and believes the factory is a great place for residential living and business venues.

He and his students also recently made an archive project about the Scranton Lace Factory and its history. He was inspired to focus on the lace factory since it would be fun to work with and it would include different types of materials, such as lace, photographs and archival documents.

“One of the hard parts of the Lace Company story is thinking about the difficult working conditions, fights for decent wages and also its rapid decline in the post-World War ll era as lace became less prominent in the United States,” Shprintzen said.

Shprintzen’s students tended to focus on the way the workers created a community and life. Throughout the project, Shprintzen and his students had many interesting findings. They uncovered the sports team that the Scranton Lace Factory formed called Lace Works. There were many sports including basketball, bowling, baseball and a soccer team by the company which was a very successful league in the 1900s. This project goes into great detail about the history of the factory and the significance it had in the industrial industry.

In addition, residential units are already in use and have been in use since July 2020. In 2024, the development started to also feature a multi-use venue space. This venue space is made to host a variety of events, from weddings, festivals, corporate events and fundraisers aimed to bring our community together.

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