Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Connecticut Light & Power Company 1961-1966
• Derby Gas & Electric Light Co. 1890-1935
• Eveready-McCallum Co, Inc. 1988-Present (2015)
• Housatonic Public Service Company 1953-1961
• Northeast Utilities 1966-ca. 1988
• Utilities Power and Light Corp., Derby Gas & Electric Corp. Div. 1926-1953

Use (Historic)

• Other: Power Generation

Largest Documented Workforce

Under 50 (1934-1935)

Historic Narrative

The Derby Gas and Electric Light Company was originally established as the Birmingham Gas Light Company on May 28, 1859. The firm initially manufactured and distributed illumination gas to the boroughs of Birmingham and Ansonia, and by 1869 had expanded service to include the Town of Huntington, later renamed Shelton. The company further expanded its operations in 1871. It was reorganized as the Derby Gas Company and established a gas works in Shelton, thus allowing the firm to diversify its portfolio to include gas for cooking, house heating, and for manufacturing powerplants. In 1885, the Derby Gas Company acquired an electric generation station that had recently been established by Charles H. Nettleton and his father, Charles Nettleton. The power station was located on the west side of the Housatonic River along the Ousatonic Water Company’s canal (later occupied by the Derby Rubber Company and Better Packages, Inc.) and was powered by a water wheel and two 50-horsepower gas engines. It provided electricity to a limited number of customers in Shelton’s central business district yet was quickly found to be inadequate in regards to local demands for electricity. In 1889, the company was reorganized as the Derby Gas and Electric Light Company and between 1890 and 1892 the firm began constructing a new and larger power generation plant on the east side of the Housatonic River in Derby. The Derby Gas and Electric Light Company’s Derby plant was initially powered by a pair of 200-horsepower water wheels and a 350-horsepower coal-fired steam engine. These supplied energy to six dynamos generating electricity for the towns of Derby, Shelton, and Ansonia. The company further expanded its capacity in 1895, through the addition of two new 200kw generators. The powerplant was again expanded around 1920, with its capacity in 1936 consisting of 1,200 horsepower derived from waterwheels, and 20,000 horsepower in steam turbine generation, supplying 10,677 customers with electricity in 1936. In August 1926, the Derby Gas and Electric Light Company was acquired by the Chicago-based Utilities Power and Light Corporation. The Connecticut firm continued to operate as a division of its parent company and was renamed the Derby Gas and Electric Corporation. This continued to operate until 1953, whereupon the company merged with the Wallingford Gas Light Company to form the Housatonic Public Service Company. The Housatonic Public Service Company experienced another merger in 1961, this time consolidated with the Connecticut Light and Power Company. In 1966, control of the Connecticut Light and Power Company was acquired by Northeast Utilities, New England’s largest energy provider. The former Derby Gas and Electric Light Company’s Roosevelt Drive power station was maintained by Northeast Utilities until around 1988. The plant had gone unutilized for many years by this point in time, however, it was next sold to Eveready-McCallum Co, Inc., a private company that rehabilitated the station for hydroelectric generation and continues to own the property.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly four (4) blocks.

Dates of Construction

1890-1892, ca. 1900, ca. 1910, ca. 1920.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Powerhouse

Architectural Description

The former Derby Gas and Electric Light Company plant is comprised of four primary adjoining buildings and various accessory blocks located between Roosevelt Drive (formerly Housatonic Avenue) and the Naugatuck River, just north Roosevelt Drive’s intersection with Cemetery Avenue. The former Ousatonic Water Company Canal dam and return to the Naugatuck are at the base of the complex and provide waterpower to the plant. The core of the plant is an 84’ x 86’, two-story red brick building that stands along Roosevelt Avenue. The block was originally built as a one-story structure between 1890 and 1892, yet was raised to two stories around 1910. The building houses the plant’s dynamo and engine rooms and has a red brick foundation and walls, segmental-arched window openings with stone sills, a corbelled brick cornice, tile coping, and a flat roof. A two-story, 20’ x 70’ red brick block housing the plant’s switch room is located on the north side of the building. The plant’s wheelhouse abuts the southern elevation of the aforementioned block. The western half of this one-and-a-half-story red brick building was erected between 1890 and 1892, and was expanded to the east around 1900. The subsequent 44’ x 80’ building straddles the canal race leading to the Housatonic River, and the structures exterior details mimic those of the main block. The wheelhouse retains the majority of its original fenestration, these consisting of multi-pane casement windows. A new boiler house was constructed on the western side of the power station around 1920. This measures 80’ x 112’ and is of red brick construction. The building has large rectangular window openings on its north and south (side) elevation and its roof is dominated by a tall clerestory monitor extending the full length of the structure. A one-story, 50’ x 58’ block is located on the north side of the boiler house, this likewise housing equipment associated with the generation of electricity via steam turbines. The building has red brick walls and a pitched roof with clerestory monitor. A tall brick chimney stands directly to the south. The last primary building associated with the power station is the plant’s pumphouse, this standing along Roosevelt Drive roughly 50’ east of the boiler house. The one-story pumphouse measures 32’ x 20’ and is of red brick construction. Built ca. 1920, the building has a segmental-arched primary door opening, rectangular windows with concrete sills and lintels, a denticulated cornice, and a side gabled roof.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Steam
• Water (Turbine)
• Water (Wheel)

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The plant is in fair condition. The exterior walls are heavily stained and show deterioration in limited areas but are generally sound. Some of the original windows throughout the complex have been replaced, while other windows and doors have been boarded up.

Specific Location

One 1.31 acre parcel (134 Roosevelt Drive) located between Roosevelt Drive (formerly Housatonic Avenue) and the Naugatuck River north of the intersection with Cemetery Avenue. The former Ousatonic Water Company Canal dam and return to the Naugatuck are at the base of the complex.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 9-4 1 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

1.31

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. Hartford Courant, 1982, 2008.