Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Bullard Clark Company 1948-ca.1975
• E.H. Jacobs Mfg. Co. 1890-1948
• Williamsville Buff Mfg. Co. 1927-1948

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Rubber & Chemicals

Largest Documented Workforce

75-100 (1907)

Historic Narrative

The E.H. Jacobs Manufacturing Company was established by brothers Edward H. and Frederick A. Jacobs in 1869. The firm manufactured a variety of supplies used by textile mills and initially occupied a plant on Main Street in Danielson. The company was incorporated in 1890 with E.H. Jacobs, president; W. Irving Bullard, vice-president; and Frederick A. Jacobs, secretary and treasurer. At this time the firm erected new, larger quarters on School Street and its line of textile mill supplies was specialized to included loom harnesses, belting, hose, and pickers, as well as the popular “Challenge” hose carriage, which was a two-wheeled, wood-frame carriage that allowed a pair of workers to easily move hoses around a mill or factory site. By 1907, the E.H. Jacobs Manufacturing Company was acknowledged by the Hartford Courant as being the largest firm of its kind in the country and its wares could be found throughout the United States and Canada. The firm enlarged its School Street plant several times throughout the first two decades of the 1900s, this including substantial alterations completed in 1917 that doubled the size of the mill. In 1920, the company employed between 75 and 100 workers in the expanded facility, and by 1926 the firm had established a second plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1927, operations in Danielson were joined by those of the Williamsville Buff Manufacturing Company, which was acquired that year by W. Irving Bullard. The E.H. Jacobs Manufacturing Company continued to operate through the 1930s and 1940s. In 1948, the firm was merged with three affiliated companies, the Williamsville Buff Manufacturing Company, the Jacobs Rubber Products Company of Danielson, and the E.H. Jacobs Manufacturing Company of Charlotte, to form the Bullard Clark Company. The officers of the later firm consisted of W. Irving Bullard, chairman of the board of directors; Edward J. Bullard, president and treasurer; B.T. Clark, executive vice-president; J.D. Lodge, vice-president and secretary; and J.E. Moe, vice-president. The Bullard Clark Company continued to operate into the 1970s, while the School Street plant has since been occupied by Connecticut Rubber Molding, Inc., a manufacturing company specializing in elastomers that was established in 1968.

Number of Existing Buildings

Eleven (11) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1890, ca. 1900, ca. 1910, 1917, ca. 1950.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former E.H. Jacobs Manufacturing Company plant is comprised of approximately eleven adjoining primary blocks located at the northeast corner of the intersection of School and Cottage Streets. The core of the mill consists of a red brick manufacturing building that was originally erected as a two-and-a-half-story structure in 1890, yet was enlarged and raised to three stories in 1917. The present structure measures 52’ x 66’ and has both a rubble and concrete foundation, red brick walls, segmental-arched or rectangular window openings with double-hung wood or hopper-style metal sash, star-shaped masonry wall anchors, a stepped brick parapet with concrete coping, and a flat roof. The outline of the original structure is clearly discernable on the façade (west elevation) where color differences in the brick indicate the junction of the 1890 and 1917 work. A stone plaque set in the center of the parapet reads, ‘1869/JACOBS/1917”. Double-hung wood windows are present on the west and north elevations, while large, multi-pane metal sash were installed on the south elevation as part of the 1917 alterations. Several blocks located on the north side of the primary manufacturing building date from throughout the plant’s history. A two-and-a-half-story, 25’ x 38’ wood-frame structure with aluminum siding and a front-facing gable roof was erected as a residential structure ca. 1890, yet was joined to the plant and used for storage by the late-1930s. The building connects to the main manufacturing block via a two-story wood-frame ell that also connects to a three-story brick stairwell erected as part of the 1917 alterations to the plant. Additional manufacturing blocks were erected on the east and south sides of the main block ca. 1900 and ca. 1910, respectively. The former is a two-story, 34’ x 22’ red brick building with a flat roof, while the latter consisted of a two-story boiler house that was incorporated into the main building as part of the 1917 expansion project. The plant was significantly enlarged again during the middle of the 20th century when over a dozen manufacturing buildings were constructed on the south side of the property. Notable among them are a 34’ x 45’ corrugated metal Quonset hut with a gabled clerestory monitor extending the length of its roof. A one-story, 60’ x 40’ concrete block building adjoins the Quonset hut’s south elevation, and both connect to two-story, 51’ x 84’ concrete block manufacturing building to the east. Two additional blocks, these likewise of concrete block construction and measuring 32’ x 30’ and 45’ x 62’, extend the plant’s footprint farther to the east. All of the ca. 1950 buildings have multi-pane metal sash with hopper style openings and flat roofs. The walls are painted in a brick red color.

Exterior Material(s)

• Aluminum Siding or Paneling
• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron
• Wood Frame

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor
• Round
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Metal

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The factory is in overall fair condition. Although sections of the plant show some staining and deterioration along their exterior walls the majority of the plant appears to retain its original wood or metal sash and is structurally sound and well maintained.

Specific Location

One 1.2-acre parcel (94 School Street) at the northeast corner of the intersection of School and Cottage Streets.

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 198/181 / Link →

Acreage

n/a

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

04/13/2015

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 Windham County, E.M. Woodford, 1855.
6. Atlas of Windham County, O.W. Gray, 1869.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1892, 1897, 1903, 1911, 1927, 1939.
8. Hartford Courant, 1907, 1927, 1930, 1948.
9. A History of Windham County, Connecticut; Bayles, Richard M., ed., 1889.
10. A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut; Lincoln, Allen B., 1920.