Brothers Robert and Herman Simon, owners of the R&H Simon Silk Company, built several initial mill buildings across Bushkill Creek from this location in 1883, using the creek for ready access to water needed for production. These first facilities included a main mill building, boiler-engine house, and office in brick, designed in the same late 19th century Industrial Romanesque style as their earlier Union Hill, New Jersey facility. The Easton plant began with a workforce of 250, then expanded repeatedly through the late 1800s and early 1900s. Employment rose to 1,060 by 1899, and production increased with it. New buildings and additions from this period continued the late 19th century Industrial Romanesque style, creating notable stylistic unity across the complex. The power and engine facilities grew into one of the most modern in the area, rated at 2,000 horsepower, while mill employment climbed to more than 1,200 workers with about 1,500 pieces of machinery. Robert Simon died in 1901, leaving Herman Simon to continue the business. After further enhancements and additions, the Easton and Union Hill plants were praised by Commercial and Financial World of New York on March 1, 1913, as ranking among the model establishments of the world in construction, equipment, and administration. The complex remains architecturally important as a unified collection of late 19th- and 20th-century industrial buildings and as a model business establishment in the growth and decline of the American silk industry.
