Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Charles J. Dickgiesser & Co. 1942-Present (2015)

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

9 (2015)

Historic Narrative

The origins of Charles J. Dickgiesser and Company date back to the 1860s and the establishment of a tinsmith’s shop by an Irish immigrant by the name of Charles Lowrie. Lowrie set up a workshop on Main Street in Derby around 1864 and by the 1880s this had grown into Charles Lowrie and Company, which local directories list as a stove dealer, tinsmith, and plumber’s shop. Lowrie died around 1890 and a history of Charles J. Dickgiesser and Company indicates that the firm was soon purchased by a businesswoman by the name of Amelia Haussler Dickgiesser. During the 1890s local directories alternately list Dickgiesser as a saloon proprietor or boarding house keeper, however, by 1900 her son Charles is listed as a clerk in a tin shop (presumably that formerly owned by Lowrie and purchased by Dickgiesser). This evolved into the Charles J. Dickgiesser Company, which first appears in local directories around 1906 when the firm is identified as a “tinware dealer and tinsmith” operating at 10 Third Street. The Charles J. Dickgiesser Company remained at 10 Third Street until the early 1920s, whereupon it moved to a new plant at 38 Anson Street. By this point in time the firm is identified as Charles J. Dickgiesser and Company, and is listed as a manufacturer of sheet metal goods. The company continued to focus on this aspect of their business through the 1930s and into the 1940s, and during the Second World War was notable as being the nation’s sole source of hydraulic fluid reservoirs used in the rotation mechanisms of large-caliber naval guns. In 1942 the company erected a new manufacturing plant on Roosevelt Drive, a move likely driven by the demand for this and other defense-related products. In the post-war period, Charles J. Dickgiesser and Company developed a number of new products in an effort to keep up with shifting markets. One product line, metal heel washers used in rubber-heeled shoes, was developed shortly after the war and continues to be manufactured today. Other current products reflect the company’s increasing focus on a mix of custom-manufactured metal fabrications, welded assemblies, and machine parts. These include rubber molding machines, x-ray equipment, hoists and crane systems, cylindrical tanks, specialty carts, and concrete forms. The firm’s most notable product is known as “Porta Storage,” which is an art storage system used by a range of clients including the National Park Service, United States Holocaust Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Yale Center for British Art. Despite being inundated during the 1955 flood, Charles J. Dickgiesser and Company continues to operate on Roosevelt Drive and is still owned by members of the Dickgiesser family. The firm’s nine employees maintain a 19,000 square foot plant that is constantly modernized through the addition of new machinery and other capital equipment, a factor that allows the company to remain competitive in a challenging global economy.

Number of Existing Buildings

Five (5) blocks.

Dates of Construction

1942, ca. 1947-1965.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Other: Storage Shed

Architectural Description

The Charles J. Dickgiesser and Co. plant is comprised of a group of four adjoining blocks and one detached storage building located at the northeast corner of Roosevelt Drive’s intersection with A Street and extending north along C Street (also identified as Galiardi Street) to its intersection with Park Avenue. The earliest sections of the factory include a one-story, 48’ x 175’ concrete block building situated on the eastern side of the present manufacturing plant, and a one-story, 25’ x 36’ frame storage building standing at the northeast corner of the parcel. Both of these structures were erected in 1942. The manufacturing building is notable for the masonry facing on its primary (south) elevation – which is comprised of concrete bricks of assorted sizes and colors applied in irregular courses – and the concrete block piers that frame wide bays extending the length of the block’s east (side) elevation. Over time some of the building’s original window openings have been infilled with concrete block, however, those that remain retain their original metal sash with hopper or casement style openings. A plain metal and glass entry located on the façade is sheltered by a flat metal awning supported from above by two steel cables. Above this, metal letters applied to the masonry read “CHARLES J. DICKGIESSER and CO.” The storage building stands to the northeast of the aforementioned block and has vertical wood siding and a gable roof. The structure’s only opening consists of a one-bay, roll-up garage-style door located on its north elevation. The original manufacturing block was enlarged through the construction of three one-story concrete block additions on its west side at some point between 1947 and 1965. Two of the blocks, these measuring 33’ x 111’ and 33’ x 64’, were erected abutting the west elevation of the main block and present the appearance of being a single flat-roofed building. The plant’s façade was likely applied at the time of this expansion in order to visually unify the blocks. Such was not attempted with the fourth block, which abuts the west elevations of the other additions and is set back from Roosevelt Drive in order to create an area for shipping and receiving. This one-story, flat-roofed block measures 30’ x 155’ and has a sheltered loading dock with single roll-up garage-style door on its south elevation, and a large window opening and single pass-through door at the north side of the plant. Assorted windows and garage and pass-through doors can also be found on the north elevations of the adjacent blocks.

Exterior Material(s)

• Concrete Block
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Good

Condition Notes

The building is in good condition. While some of the window openings have been infilled with concrete block, those that remain retain their original metal sash with casement or hopper style openings, which has been well maintained.

Specific Location

One 0.69 acre parcel on the northeast corner of Roosevelt Drive’s intersection with C Street (also identified as Galiardi Street) and extending north along C Street to its intersection with Park Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 10-3 134 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

0.69

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

01/13/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Map of New Haven County, H & C.T. Smith, 1856.
4. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
5. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
6. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1912, 1924, 1947.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Bird’s Eye View of Birmingham, Connecticut, O.H. Bailey, 1876.
10. The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880, 1880.
11. History of New Haven County, 1892.
12. Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Malloy, Leo T., 1935.
13. Derby, Connecticut 300th Anniversary Commemorative Book; 1675-1975, 1975.
14. Family Equity: A Publication of The Center for Family Business at the University of New Haven, 2002.
15. Pictorial History of Derby, Derby Historical Society, 1999.