The MIlls at Ephrata

Paper Mill

Conflicts with the Germantown printer, Christopher Saur occurred in 1739 when he began production of a hymnal for Ephrata. Saur objected to the lyrics of one of Conrad Beissl's newly composed chorales, and the war of words between the two men appeared in Saur's newspaper in 1740. This challenge likely spurred the Brothers into expanding their existing enterprises by acquiring a printing press and type, which naturally, needed paper on which to produce the imprints. An exact date for the opening of Ephrata's paper mill is unknown, but by 1745 at the latest, the Brothers were producing their own linen rag paper. Unlike the grain and saw mill where the machinery did most of the production work, in the paper making process the mill provided only one step in the manufacture of paper. In actuality, pulp mill would be more descriptive of the mechanical process involved in making paper. Linen rags were first left to soak in water for nearly a year to begin the process of reducing them into fibers. They were then placed in the pulp mill where large wooden hammers, driven by water power, were lifted and dropped to break the fabric down into pulp. (You probably thought "beaten to a pulp" was only something bullies did on the playground!) The pulp is floated on water and a screen-like device called a mould is used to capture the fibers and form the paper sheets.

Ephrata's paper is distinguished by several unique "watermarks" -- thinner areas on the page created by wires bent into an artistic shape or letter and sewed to the surface of the wire screen mold. Watermarks are visible when held in front of a light source. The word "EFRATA," a horn, and "1744" all appear at different times in Ephrata's papermaking history. For a brief period, the most elaborate watermark used incorporated a cross, keys, yokes, and the words "ZION" and "EFRATA." Many of the pages of Ephrata paper which survived suggest that it was a heavier, course paper than produced by some mills of the period. One contemporary source says Ephrata is known for its production of “paste board,” a type of card board.”

By the mid-1750s Ephrata members constructed a second paper mill up-stream from first, just north of the community's center. It is unclear when production ceased at the original mill, but this new mill continued in production, passing into the hands of members of the married congregation by the 1770s. In 1828 this new paper mill was sold to an individual with no previous connection to Ephrata. The building was remodeled and expanded several times until, by the mid-20^th-century the few remaining elements of the original building where completely enveloped in the modern textile factory which now occupies the site.