American Woolen Mills, a large textile firm located on the west bank of the Oswego River provided uniforms and other cloth-related supplies for the US Army in both World Wars. Many early Italian and Polish immigrants lived in simple wood-framed company housing and shopped at the company store during this time period. The factory-owned housing was eventually sold to the employee-occupants. Joining the woolen mills was the adjacent "Silk Mill." The American Woolen Mills closed their Fulton operations in the early 1950s. The largest buildings were demolished in the summer of 1962. Another industry located on the west side of the river bank and using the force of the river water to power manufacturing equipment was the Foster Brothers' Knife Works, which produced cutlery. Besides Poles, the west side of the river was also settled with a sizable community of Italian immigrants as well as Czechoslovakians, Ukrainians, Syrians, and other mostly Eastern European nationalities.