1 -,-, 1 - The Farmington Libraries

HISTORIC
RESOURCES INVENTORY
BUILDING
AND STRUCTURES
HIST I>
FOR OFFICE
NEW 5 77
STATE
OF
CONNECTICUT
59 SOUTH
PROSPECT
CONNECTICUT
HISTORICAL
STREET,
COMMISSION
HARTFORD,
UT~
06106
CONNECTICUT
I
•
I
IF NR
=~=::7~~=:7':"~:;:====================~D~s_-----..l:D:d.::N--:R_l
, BUILDING NAME (Commoal
'o"c/
I
Pioneer Steel Ball Company
5
TOWN CITy
.-
3
j
~'TREE
"NO. NUMBER I.nd
",Io('."nn)
D
..
Actuol
---------
OWNERISI
4
~
Pioneer
Steel Ball Company.
Industrial
6
(I
D
n
-
-'------'-'--~._._--------------
--",.
G
DPublic
o
o
Shingle
Board
& Batten
o
Aluminum
, Siding
O
9
O
STRUCTUR"'l
o
liJ
10
Wood
frame
Load
~earing
ROOF
~
o
.-
SYS7EM
j
r c«,
o
Asphalt
LJ
Gambrel
o
0
GJ
Shingle
Asphalt
NUMBER
shingle
OF STORIE~I
CONO-ITION
o
Concrete
Typ~:
5' ond
::J
(exterior
O
o
beam
o
Flat
Shed
o
Mansard
o
OHiP
Or
_
and foundation)
Fieldstone
Cobbles,one
Cut stone
Type:
o
balloon
St,ructuro!
iron
O
Round
Other
rSpecdyl
_
or steel
o
Monitor
s~wtoo,h
Other
I Spec
,1'1'1
_
0
up
Tole
Other
D'Sp.-c,''1'1
Slate
DIMEN~IONS
63x140;
Good
0_~alf
,
_
_W~~
OlJTBUILOINC,
OR l ANO'o( Ar>f
=:J
[J Go'og,
Born
0
60x35;
97x50;
180x50.
Office
53xI8;63x20.
Warehouse
Shed
0
Dete~orated
lJ:J
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_
IO'y'~'~""~,No.LYES
'f
EXPLAIN
ATU"E,
~
Other
landscape
features
or buoldlngs'
Sp"c'/'1"
'----------------------------------
I_ Sc o t r e
I.:l
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0J
~~_~_~mme'c.ol
If
IN T f
~?Pf
l
AT
Indus
trial
tON'::,HIP
1
J
H'gh
e
e d bUilding!.
bu,ld,ng
vr sr bl e from
site
d"ns"y
Of
The Ups o n Nut Company sits
on tile south
side
of 1'1il) Street
ill Uni o nv Ll Lc .
TlI tile
south
is the Farmington
Ri vcr and to t.Iic n o r t h is a n are:l
c o n s i s t I m; of r ornmor rj n l
h 1I S i 11 c sse san d ho U S i 11 i', C () 11S t rue t L'd d \ i r i 111', t h l' I 960 s .
()nth e e as tis
SOLI t h ~\;I i 11 :; t I' l' l' t
which
leads
to the bridi',I' "l-()ssilll~
the ",IJ-mil1gton
River.
ThL' lillinl) School
\ i,'" t,'
the west.
~~---
_
..
-
-
-
-~----
142x88
,F~I,"'"''
..D':oyed
~ELATED
Bud.
APPROXIMATE
T.n
rut.d,
C
Excellen,
0
Roll
Asphalt
26xl08;
'_'ilflll
~I~i~:~r~~~nYal'
14
o
o
Stucco
Po
10
Motf!flO/I
2
12
OF CONSTRue
Other
Specify)
Brock
·0
5a
Wood
C
II
G
ma ~~nr.y
W
o
EXPL"IN
.pprop"d1~1
Siding
Q.
r--
IF YES
ca. f860. ca. 1870
S,ding
f
Goble
I
whrn
Asbestos
Private
Industrial
QNo
DYe5
I
industrial
0
Wood
I
No
e se or loc.llon
Clapboard
o
o
I
INTERIQf> ACCESSIBLE
DATE
Nineteenth-century
8 MATERIALISlllndic.lr
U
Pot .. tial
Hartford
Inc.
EXTERIOR V51BLE FR()I.l PUBLC ROAD
ACCESSIBILITY
TO PUBLIC:
LXJ Yes
5 YLE OF BUILDING
'
D:
D
COUNT Y
I
Unionville
~"hSr-;-;U"""'SIE-;(-;P:':"~-,-'~-'-:Jl71--------":'--":"'--------------'-,'-"-1-,,-,,-,-,---------------------------
VI
SPECIFY
37 Mill Street
u..
z
o
1-'-:
Upson Nut Company
VILL"GE
I
Farmington
276
1 -,-,
I
DISTRICT
2
Sit~ No
QUAD:]
(203) 566·3005
(H
USE ONL Y
T
T own No
.
17
OTHCf:fN"OTASl£
OF
FEATURES
BUILDING
OR
,IFl'f',''''
StT[
..lid 0' ,..I#·I'UI'
The Upson Nut Company Complex is made up of primarily three buildings:
a gable-roofed brick
building, a flat-roofed brick building, and a nineteenth-century
vernacular residence now
an office.
The oldest building is the gable-roofed brick building.
Two stories in height,
it features many bays that are arch shaped in design and recessed from the exterior.
The
industrial-type windows existing are not original.
The second buildil1g, a flat-roofed
brick building is extremely long and measures two stories in height.
Its six-bay facade
is enhanced by a stepped parapet.
Once again the arched windows with industrial-type
windows are a prominent feature.
A modern shed-roofed addition stems off the east elevation.
The office (once a residence) is alumninum sided and retains none of its original details
or materials.
Note its cross-gabled roof, modern windows, and exterior brick chimney.
Of further interest is the ltalianate-style arched window in the cross gable.
:z
o
....
Q.
ii
u
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l&l
o
BUILOER
I
LOR
U
The nut and bolt works that Unionville became so well-known for began in the 1850s.
Dwight Landgon (1827-1860) began production of the first nuts and bolts in Unionville
around 1854.
Although the building which housed this original activity does not
exist, it is known that Langdon employed his brother-in-law,
Andrew S. Upson (1835-1905)
as a wagon driver who sold carriage bolts.
Sales were successful and after Langdon's
death in 1860 George Dunham (1830-1918) entered a partnership with Upson with a capital
l&l
investment of $15,000.
The name of the company was changed to the Union Nut Company in 1864.
U
Z
By
this
time
the
first
industrial
building had been built and other buildings were added
-e
u
to
the
site.
Andrew
Upson
served
as
president and treasurer and the other stockholders
II.
were
George
Dunham,
Samuel
Frisbie,
and
Dr. William Sage.
It is said that Upson supplied
:z
u
the
financial
needs
of
the
company
and
Dunham
invented
the
machines
necessary for production.
0;;
In 1860 400,000 bolts and 600,000 ~eat sticks were manufactured em~loying 35 men and
3 women.
The industrial complex undoubtedly had grown for by 1872 the company built a
new factory in Cleveland which employed about 1200 people.
The company had become one of
the country's largest manufacturers of nuts and bolts.
Upon Upson's death, the company was
left to his two sons and daughter Mary Upson Rose.
In 1920 the family sold the company
to Bourne and Fuller, which later became part of the Republic Iron and Steel Company.
The water'rights were not included in t~e sale and went to the Union Water Power Company
and later to the Union Electric Light and Power Company.
The belt hook unit was sold to
William Duff and later Richard Saling.
The rule department was purchased by the Stanley
Works of New Britain.
Around 1925 the. build in s were occu ied b the LaPoint
see cant.
.)
Farmington Land Records; F.::J.rmington.
Probate Recor s; ar nu ng t on i t a
ecor s; -a rrmnz t on
Cemetery Inscriptions, \~.P.A.,
1934; Avon Cemetery Inscriptions, \~.P.A., 1934; 1853 E.~1.
Woodford Map; 1855 E.M. ~oodford Map; 1869 Baker and Tilden Map; 1878 0.11. ~ai1ey & Co. Map.
Prentise, Dudley.
lIistorv of Fa rm i ng t o n lIouses. 9 vols., N.p., 1974; Farmington House
File Collection'. N.p .• 1950-52.
Brandegee, Arthur L.
Farmington, Connecticut, The
Village of Beautiful Homes.
Farmington, Conn: Author, 1906.; Gay, Julius.
The Early
Industries of Farmin ton. Hartford
Conn.:
Case Lockwood
and Brainard Co. 1898. see below
HOTOGRAPHER
4/86
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~;';"'';':'':=::L'::'':':~
NEG"
SE
T I V EON
F IL E
20:9A
lOA
--t ~ __
_
~
B. Matteson
N
Preservation
Trust
Middletmm
CT
Sources cont. "Unionville's Early Indust ry", The
Lure of the Litchfield Hills.
H
[3
(.J
None
o
knowr.
Renewal
o
Privote
VandalIsm
(--1
....".-J
Deterioration
o
0
Oeveloper&
DOth."
0
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STATE OF CONNECTICUT
HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY
For Buildings and Structures
FORM
USI! ONL y
NO.:
UTM:
CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION
59 South Prospect Street, Hartford, Connecticut
CONTINUATION SHEET
Item number:
19 Date:
OFFICI!
TOWN
SITE
NO ..
18/_I __ I__ /-'l:..I_I/_2._
QUAD:
06106
OIST"ICT:
5
NR:
ACTUAL
P'OTENTIAL
4/86
Plasco Mold Company.
In 1946 Nicholas Martinelli and several partners started till'Pioneer
Steel Ball Company.
During the 1955 flood, several of the buildings were de s t ro ycd and
a boiler exploded.
Repairs were made and the plant continues operations today.
The Upson Nut Company Complex has both architectural
and h i s t or leal significance.
It
remains one of two nineteenth-century
industrial complexes in Unionville and has close
ties with the development of industry in Farmington .
.>
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