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Duryea Starch Works
Hendrick Vanderbilt Duryea c.1880
In 1853, Hendrick and Elizabeth Duryea founded two corn starch manufacturing plants: one located on the Lower Mill Dam in Glen Cove and the other on Lake Ontario in Oswego, New York.
Glen Cove Starch Works
Glen Cove with its purer water source, ready supply of corn from local farms, and safe harbors, had distinct advantage. Duryea closed the Oswego plant and enlarged his Long Island operation. The Glen Cove Starch Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1855.
Waterfront Advantage
Glen Cove's location on the water provided easy access and fast transportation of goods.
Thirty Acres
The factory was self reliant with its multi purposed buildings. Its complex included a lumber yard, corn elevators, box shop, chemical building, blacksmith shop, and coal storage bins. The company maintained a fleet of schooners, a sloop, tugs, and barges to transport raw materials and finished products.
Early Starch Works
Starch Works was located in the area of present day Glen Cove Stadium, between Glen Cove Avenue and the creek. In its prime, the factory spanned thirty acres.
Satin Gloss Brand
May 8, 1877 Trademark
The company's onsite print shop manufactured their own packing boxes and printed the labels. The products were renowned internationally with labels printed in Portugese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and German.
Duryea Corn Flour November 21, 1876 Trademark
As the company expanded, Duryea offered diverse corn products such as corn flour, glucose, corn syrup, grape sugar, laundry soap, toilet soap, and corn oil. Duryea's products garnered many international food awards: Second International Exposition in London in 1862, Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and International Exposition in Paris in 1878.
Recipes
c.1880
Recipes were included with Duryeas' Improved Corn Starch to promote usage.
Duryea Factory
The factory was the largest among many industries along the Glen Cove Creek. It was also the foremost polluter of the waterway. By-product materials dumped in both the Glen Cove Creek and Hempstead Harbor caused noxious odors. In 1879, a petition signed by Sea Cliff and Glen Cove residents protesting industrial pollution was sent to the Health Department of Queens County.
Complex Plan
The process of obtaining starch from the endosperm of the kernel involves washing, steeping, and drying the corn. This map shows the many buildings and their functions. Unfortunately, much of the waste products were disposed in the adjacent creek resulting in noxious odors and lasting pollution.
Irish Laborers
As the largest manufacturer in Glen Cove, Duryea employed over 700 laborers. The waterfront industries attracted many new immigrants, primarily from Ireland. Paternalism factored largely in early American industrialism. Duryea's immigrant labor depended upon the company built tenements for housing and were obliged to shop at the company's cooperative store where they were allotted credit.
Glen Cove Gazette
Glen Cove's first newspaper, the Gazette, published its first edition on Saturday, May 9, 1857. The mission of the newspaper was, "Devoted to the News of the Day, Local Interests, Literature, Agriculture, Horticulture, Manufacture, Morality and Amusement." While independent, the weekly was largely supported by the Starch Works and issued in the company printing plant.
Duryea Estate on Petite Place
The seven Duryea brothers built large estates in Glen Cove as their wealth increased. They supported local charities and were benefactors of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove. Today, the Queen Anne mansion of John Duryea built in 1888, still stands on Petite Place.
Fire
Several fires plagued the factory during its near 50 year history in Glen Cove. The plant was completely reconstructed after a fire in 1860. It survived more fires in the 1890s.
Gravestones
The Winter of 1861 was a tragic time for the Duryea family. The children of Susan and Wright Duryea died within two days of each other. Sarah was eight and Henry was one. Their joint gravestone was inscibed, "Lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided."
St. Paul's Cemetery
Corn Starch Works was the most influential industry in Glen Cove in its day. Today, there's very little trace of the company left in the city. As one of the oldest burial grounds in Glen Cove, St. Paul's Church is the final resting place for many prominent residents. Wright Duryea, the founder of Corn Starch Works and his children are buried in St. Paul's Cemetery on Highland Road.
Duryea "Maizena"
150+ Years
Duryea's Maizena brand corn starch is currently produced by Unilever, a British multinational food and consumer goods company based in London.
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