Nylon

Nylon is the world's first fully synthetic textile fiber, and its invention and commercial production are among the most significant contributions Delaware has made to global industry and culture. Invented and manufactured in Delaware by the DuPont Company, nylon — the world's first all-synthetic fiber — was introduced in Wilmington in the form of women's leg-length stockings. The material's development fundamentally reshaped the textile industry, transformed everyday consumer life, and placed the small state of Delaware at the center of one of the twentieth century's most celebrated scientific achievements. The development of nylon, the synthetically engineered "miracle" fiber, transformed the textile industry and had an enormous social impact on daily life worldwide. From the laboratory benches of Wilmington to the factory floor of Seaford, Delaware's role in nylon's history is impossible to overstate.

Invention and Scientific Origins

DuPont's invention of nylon spanned an eleven-year period, ranging from the initial research program in polymers in 1927 to its announcement in 1938, shortly before the opening of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The project grew from a new organizational structure at DuPont suggested by Charles Stine in 1927, in which the chemical department would focus on "pioneering research" in chemistry, and Harvard instructor Wallace Hume Carothers was hired to direct the polymer research group.

The first nylon, nylon 66, was synthesized on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Hume Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station. The synthesis represented a landmark moment in materials science. In simplistic terms, nylon is made from coal, air, and water, but the research into developing the fiber was like no other before it — it was just five years from the creation of the nylon molecule to the Seaford plant opening, an unbelievably short time.

Behind the scenes, the invention of nylon also transformed the chemical industry by proving that the composition of polymers could be predicted and engineered like many other chemical products. Joseph Labovsky, a chemical engineer working as a technician in the lab, later recalled that the lab workers were scaling up fiber 6,6 "from 1 ounce to 1 pound, 2 pounds, 50 pounds, 250 pounds, and eventually to 2,000 pounds." That painstaking scale-up process paved the way for industrial manufacturing. Among the earliest successes of a fundamental research program novel in the American chemical industry, nylon was the first totally synthetic fiber to be fashioned into consumer products, prepared wholly with materials readily derived from coal, air, and water, with properties superior to its natural counterparts, such as silk.

The Seaford Plant: World's First Nylon Factory

Once the chemistry had been proven, DuPont moved quickly to bring nylon into commercial-scale production. After the nylon patent was issued in September 1938, the world's first nylon plant was authorized for construction in Seaford due to its location near the DuPont headquarters in Wilmington, raw materials, and major markets. Initial construction began in March 1939, and just nine months after groundbreaking, the six-story facility began operations on December 12, 1939.

DuPont considered 14 locations for the first nylon plant, requiring a good water supply, good transportation potential, and a good work force. The company chose Seaford, in part, because of Sussex County's low tax rates and because the southern Delaware labor market was described as "free from agitation," and there was a navigable river nearby to help with the transportation of supplies. Specifically, DuPont officials ultimately selected Seaford because of its proximity to the Nanticoke River, roads leading to major markets, and a railroad, as well as its proximity to Wilmington, the base of all DuPont operations.

The scale of the construction project was extraordinary for its time. In just 14 months, workers constructed a plant that was more than one-fifth of a mile long on the shores of the Nanticoke River. Ground was broken on a 648-acre site just outside city limits for the plant in March 1939, and it began operations in December. When news got out about the plant being built, hundreds of unemployed workers, desperate for jobs, flooded Seaford even before construction began. They came from as far away as Louisiana and Texas to what they called the "Cinderella Town," according to the Seaford Historical Society. It was a struggle to house and feed the influx of people, and even more showed up by spring seeking their American dream.

In 1938, DuPont started construction on a nylon production facility in Seaford, Delaware, that could produce up to 12 million pounds of the synthetic fiber a year. The Moderne-style plant came online with 850 workers in December 1939. During its first year, the plant operated around the clock, producing enough nylon for 64 million pairs of nylon stockings.

DuPont's investment of $8 million for the plant and many tens of millions of dollars for the development of nylon came during the Great Depression. The plant investment was one-sixth of the company's 1938 net income.

Delaware's Role in the Consumer Launch of Nylon

Delaware was not only the site of nylon's manufacturing debut — it was also where the public first had the chance to purchase the new material. Nylon stockings were not widely available until May 15, 1940, but a limited release occurred earlier in Delaware, with the first public sale on October 24, 1939, in Wilmington, where 4,000 pairs were sold within three hours.

Seven months later, DuPont put 4,000,000 pairs on sale nationally; these sold out in four days. The name "nylon," intended to be a generic designation of a class of polymers, became another word for stockings. Offered at $1.15 a pair, they were sold out at most locations by noon. In 1940, DuPont produced 2.6 million pounds of nylon, making a total sales figure of $9 million; the following year the company sold $25 million worth of nylon yarn.

Later there were "nylon riots." Nylon changed the clothes we wear and the way we dress. The public's reaction to nylon was unprecedented in the history of consumer goods. The city of Seaford became known as "The Nylon Capital of the World." The public embraced nylon's physical properties such as tremendous strength, a high degree of toughness, and very high resistance to abrasion.

Seaford's first shopping center also adopted the nylon name, while a road leading to the plant was christened Nylon Boulevard. The success of the DuPont fiber created thousands of jobs, which in turn powered Seaford's economy.

Wartime Production and Economic Impact

When the United States entered World War II, the Seaford plant's role shifted dramatically. After only two years of operation, the Seaford plant was forced to switch to wartime production, but there was no slowdown, as workers supplied nylon parachutes, mosquito netting, tents, and numerous other military goods. Seaford lost many of its first male employees to the war effort, but female workers oversaw the production of nylon for parachutes and B-29 bomber tires.

Its strength, elasticity, weight, and resistance to mildew helped the Allies win World War II. The material proved so critical to the war effort that consumer nylon goods were rationed and diverted almost entirely to military use, creating shortages that only made American consumers more eager for stockings once the war ended.

The plant's economic footprint in Delaware was immense. Employment grew from 850 in the first year to 4,700 by the 1960s into the 1970s, and the plant had its own construction division that employed another 1,200 workers. Almost overnight, the economy of Sussex County changed. The plant operated on a 24-hour shift for more than 40 years before early-retirement buyouts and layoffs significantly reduced the workforce.

After World War II, the plant was an important part of the DuPont Company's textile fiber program. One of the production units was converted into a pilot plant in 1948 for "Fiber X," later introduced as Dacron. Nylon used in the carpet industry was developed at the plant in 1958. The Seaford plant was also the leader in producing Stainmaster, the revolutionary, stain-resistant nylon 6.6 carpet fiber introduced in 1986. With a $15 million advertising campaign, Stainmaster soon became the standard for carpet worldwide.

Decline, Sale, and Legacy

Nylon began to lose its popularity in the 1970s when consumer taste shifted toward other fabrics and styles, and competition increased when other countries began to produce nylon for far less than in the United States. Employment peaked at 4,600 in the 1970s but subsequently shrank to just 650 by 2004, the year DuPont sold the historic facility, part of which had previously been demolished.

In the early 2000s, DuPont changed the name of its synthetic fiber division to Invista, and in 2004, it sold the division, including the Seaford plant, to Koch Industries for $4.4 billion. INVISTA's Seaford site has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of the marketplace — producing nylon for uniforms for the U.S. military and flame-resistant clothing for work-wear applications, as well as nylon for press felts used in paper manufacturing and other industrial end uses.

The plant's historic significance has been formally recognized. As the DuPont Nylon Plant, this facility was designated as a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society on October 26, 1995. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the plant in 2014, Delaware Public Archives erected a marker in front of what is now the Invista plant.

Joseph Labovsky donated part of his nylon legacy to the Delaware Academy of Chemical Sciences. That group then worked with a team from the University of Delaware and DuPont to transform the findings into a 3-story exhibit that includes a mini museum, personal notes, and several early applications of the product.

The Seaford plant produced the first totally synthetic fiber for consumer products ever developed, and led the way to the creation of thousands of other synthetic fibers over the years. "Nylon revolutionized the textile industry and led the way for a variety of synthetic fibers that have had a huge impact on the social and economic fiber of everyday life," according to the American Chemical Society.