Established by William Rogers and T.J. Burchfield in 1872, the company was one of the first in the nation to produce black plate and tin plate. It entered a market dominated by imports from England and Wales and attracted skilled labor from there. It supplied domestic and exported tin for cookware, canning and roofing. In 1874, it was the first to power its operation with natural gas instead of coal. The mill operated here until 1931.