By 1893, James Hulihan and Thomas Conley owned the Royalton Basket Company which supplied local fruit farmers with different size baskets ranging from berry baskets to fruit crates. The logs were floated down the canal and held in the log pond until they were needed. The lower level of the building was used to cut the logs into strips while the assembling of the baskets took place on the top floor.

Deliveries of the finished baskets were made by horse and wagon to local farmers. Owners of the business at its closing in 1934 were James and Timothy O’Shaughnessey.

Today we look forward to once again having the building in use as the Basket Factory Restaurant.

*See this article about the Basket Factory Restaurant re-opening. 

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This is how the Basket Factory look in about 1908. Seated on the delivery wagon is Paul McClew of Watson Ave. how is about to leave to deliver 5,000 four-quart baskets to some farmers.

Standing beside the wagon are Ray Harrington, John O’Shaughnessey and J.C. Jackson. Mr. O’Shaughnessey and his brother, Tim, ran the factory at that time.

McClew tells of how often he left the factory at 7 a.m. to deliver baskets and didn’t return until 9 or 10 p.m. Sometimes when he got sleepy, if he was close enough to home, he would lay at the bottom of the empty wagon and let his team or horses bring him home to Middleport.

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