Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Beaumart, Inc. late 1930s
• Connecticut Clasp Co. ca. 1910-1912
• Crown Paper Box Co. 1912-1935
• General Electric Co. ca. 1950s
• Leather Products Co., Inc. late 1930s

Use (Historic)

• Apparel & Accessories
• Paper & Wood Products

Largest Documented Workforce

65 (1917).

Historic Narrative

The Crown Paper Box Company was organized in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1905. The firm was managed by William Pope, a native of New Haven, Connecticut. Pope was the son of a German immigrant, Maximillian Pope, who was also associated with the paper box industry, and upon completing his schooling William Pope found work at the New Haven Paper Box Company. He later relocated to Newark, New Jersey, where he served as superintendant of the E.T. Hart Box Company. In 1898, Pope moved to Bridgeport and organized the Pope Paper Box Company. He remained with this firm for just one year before he sold the business and moved back to Newark to take a job with the Specialty Box Company. In 1905, William Pope returned to Bridgeport in order to organize the Crown Paper Box Company. Pope’s partners in the new venture included two of the most prominent individuals associated with Bridgeport industries at the time. They were George C. Batcheller and Edwin W. Russell, who both had financial and/or managerial connections to the Connecticut Clasp Company, Crown Corset Company, and George C. Batcheller and Company. The Crown Paper Box Company initially occupied the building at 183 John Street that had previously housed the Pope Paper Box Company, however, in 1912, the business moved into a mill erected along Railroad Avenue by the Connecticut Clasp Company. This was located between the factories operated by the Connecticut Clasp Company and Crown Corset Company. George C. Batcheller served at the Crown Paper Box Company’s first president, while Edwin W. Russell and William Pope held the roles of secretary-treasurer and general manager, respectively. The firm employed upwards of 65 hands during the 1910s and it turned out paper boxes in a variety of styles, these largely sold to other Bridgeport manufacturers. Much of the firm’s output was of a high-quality character and while most paper box manufacturers employed primarily low-skilled employees, the Crown Paper Box Company’s workforce included many highly-skilled hands. The company eventually closed its doors in 1935 and its Railroad Avenue factory was in turn occupied by a wholesale liquor company and a leatherworking firm during the late 1930s, and was used for storage by the General Electric Company during the 1950s.

Number of Existing Buildings

One (1) freestanding primary block.

Dates of Construction

ca.1910.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Crown Paper Box Company plant consists of one primary block located on the south side of Railroad Avenue, roughly 200’ east of Railroad Avenue’s intersection with Park Avenue. The building was erected ca. 1910 and is nearly identical in design to its neighbor at 345 Railroad Avenue. The Crown Paper Box Company factory is a three-story, 46’ x 90’ red brick block with a raised basement level, brick pier walls, segmental-arched window openings with stone sills, corbelled window bay headers, and a pedimented front-facing gable roof. A round window is centered in the façade (north elevation) gable end. The original fenestration throughout the plant primarily consisted of paired six-over-six double-hung wood sash. The main entrance to the mill is centered on the façade. This consists of a round-arched opening with a pair of wood doors topped by a multipane transom. A secondary entrance is centered on the west elevation and a stair tower projects from the roof at the southwest corner of the building.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The plant is in fair condition. The vast majority of the window openings have been boarded up or infilled and the 1920 block has been sheathed with corrugated metal siding, however, overall, the various blocks appear structurally sound.

Specific Location

One 0.90-acre parcel (347 Railroad Avenue) located on the south side of Railroad Avenue, roughly 200’ east of Railroad Avenue’s intersection with Park Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 21/ 521/ 1/B / Link →

Acreage

0.9

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Other: for sale 10/2022
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

01/22/2016

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of Fairfield County; Baker, William A., 1854.
6. Atlas of the City of Bridgeport; J.B. Beers & Co., 1876.
7. Atlas of the City and Town of Bridgeport; G.M. Hopkins & Co., 1888, 1917.
8. Atlas of Bridgeport; Kershaw, William H., 1910.
9. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1888, 1898, 1904, 1913, 1939, 1950.
10. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1951, 1965, 1970, 1985.
11. Bridgeport City Directory, Various editions.
12. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport; Orcutt, Samuel, 1886.
13. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity; S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1917.