The Fuller Building
The Fuller Building
45 Pine Grove Avenue · Kingston, New York
A history of making, since 1906.
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Before becoming a home for artists, designers and independent businesses, the Fuller Building was a shirt factory.
Before becoming a home for artists, designers and independent businesses, the Fuller Building was a shirt factory.
For nearly sixty years, its floors were filled with the sounds of sewing machines, cutting tables and the daily activity of hundreds of workers. It was part of Kingston's once-thriving garment industry, producing shirts that traveled far beyond the Hudson Valley.
Today, the building has found a new purpose. But its connection to people who make things remains.
From Prince Street to Pine Grove Avenue
From Prince Street to Pine Grove Avenue
The story begins in 1892, when Isaiah Fuller established the Fuller Shirt Company on Prince Street in Kingston.
As the business grew, the company needed a larger manufacturing facility. In 1906, Fuller built a new three-story brick factory at 45 Pine Grove Avenue.
Its location was no accident. Situated beside the West Shore Railroad, the factory could efficiently receive materials and ship finished garments.
The move helped transform a growing local business into one of Kingston's significant clothing manufacturers.
By 1907, with an expanding workforce, the factory was reportedly producing as many as 2,100 shirts a day.
Miss Annie Fuller
Miss Annie Fuller
One of the most remarkable figures in the company's history was Annie K. Fuller, known as Miss Annie.
After her father Isaiah died in 1914, her brother James took over the family business. When James died four years later, Annie became president of the Fuller Shirt Company.
For more than thirty years, she led the business through expansion, the Great Depression and the Second World War.
Contemporary newspaper accounts praised her personal interest in employees and her role in the company's continued success.
At a time when industrial leadership was overwhelmingly male, Annie Fuller became an important figure in Kingston's business community.
She remained at the head of the company until her death in 1950.
The People Behind the Shirts
The People Behind the Shirts
The history of the Fuller Building is also the history of the people who worked inside it.
Many of the factory's employees were women. Their work involved cutting fabric, operating sewing machines, assembling collars and cuffs, pressing garments, inspecting finished shirts and preparing orders for shipment.
The factory provided employment for generations of Kingston residents, but its history also reflects the challenges of industrial work.
In September 1934, 45 of approximately 200 workers went on strike over wages.
During the Second World War and the years that followed, the company continued to adapt. It later participated in training programs for returning veterans and introduced new workplace health supervision.
These stories remind us that behind every garment were real people, with their own skills, lives and experiences.
Workers at the Fuller Shirt Company, 1952. John Matthews Collection, courtesy of Scott Dutton / Reher Center.The Fuller Building was not constructed all at once.
The Fuller Building was not constructed all at once.
As production expanded, additions were built in 1928, 1947 and 1957. The building's different sections still reveal this gradual evolution.
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the business reached another period of strong production.
In 1956, the Fuller Shirt Company was sold to the John B. Stetson Company, the American manufacturer best known for its hats.
Stetson ended operations at the site in 1961. Members of the Fuller family subsequently resumed production through the Kingston Shirt Company, specializing in boys' shirts.
Manufacturing finally ended in 1965.
A New Chapter
A New Chapter
After its industrial years, the building went through several decades of changing uses and eventual vacancy.
In 2017, architect Scott Dutton purchased the property and began an extensive restoration project.
The work revealed and preserved much of the building's original industrial character: brickwork, heavy timber columns, expansive floors and architectural details that had been hidden by later alterations.
In July 2018, the Fuller Shirt Company Factory was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its significance to Kingston's industrial history.
The building subsequently reopened as a home for studios, offices and independent creative businesses.
The Fuller Market
The Fuller Market
The Fuller Market takes its name from this building and its history.
The factory once brought together hundreds of people working to produce garments. Today, the market brings together independent designers, artists, artisans and makers working in many different disciplines.
The products, tools and working methods have changed, but the building continues to connect people through what they create.
A different kind of making. The same place.
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