Slate Pencil Manufacturing Historical - Castleton - VT
In 1843, John Cain erected a slate pencil mill along Sucker Brook. Benjamin and James Adams bought the mill in 1853, and began mass-producing slate pencils as the Adams Manufacturing Co. Soon, after acquiring more land and business partners, the company was renamed Vermont Slate and Alum. At its peak, the company produced up to 100,000 pencils a day, which were shipped throughout the world.