The polymer that became polyester has roots in the 1929 writings
of Wallace Carothers. However, DuPont chose to concentrate on
the more promising nylon research. When DuPont resumed its
polyester research, ICI had patented Terylene polyester, to
which DuPont purchased the U.S. rights in 1945 for further
development. In 1950 a pilot plant at the Seaford, Del.,
facility produced Dacron fiber with modified nylon technology.
DuPont opened its huge Kinston, N.C., plant in 1953 to produce
Dacron. Kinston, N.C., is the site of the world’s first plant
devoted to the commercial production of polyester fiber. DuPont
invested $3 million in a laboratory and $40 million in
production facilities on the 10-acre site, and began the
manufacture of Dacron in 1953. DuPont’s arrival in Kinston added
some 5,000 people to the city’s population. Despite fluctuations
in the synthetic fiber market over the years, DuPont has kept
the Kinston plant open continuously, although two filament
production lines were closed in 1998. That same