Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Edwin J. Blake Foundry 1905-1937
• Steel Warehouse ca. 1950
• William Kahn Co. ca. 1960

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

80-100 (1922).

Historic Narrative

The Edwin J. Blake Foundry was organized in 1905 as a successor to the firm of T.J. Blake and Son. The latter firm was originally established as a brass foundry and coppersmithing shop by Thomas J. Blake in 1861. The shop was initially located on Charles Street in Hartford, Connecticut and for a short period of time operated as the Blake and Sweeney Foundry. Edwin J. Blake was first employed by his father during the mid-1870s, yet in 1883 was brought in as a partner in the firm, which was reorganized as T.J. Blake and Son. The shop was moved to Commerce Street in 1895, where it remained until Thomas Blake’s death in 1905. Products and services advertised by the company while on Commerce Street included 'Babbitt' and anti-friction metals, phosphor and manganese bronze castings, 'Blake's Improved Extract Stills,' and the tinning and repair of hotel copper utensils. Following the dead of his father, Edwin J. Blake moved his business to a new plant on Windsor Street. The business was renamed as the Edwin J. Blake Foundry and it retained this title for the next 20 years. The plant was substantially expanded in 1909, by which time the firm advertised a variety of services including brass founding, coppersmithing, and silverware repair; as well as a wide range of products such as automobile and locomotive bearings. The business continued to grow through the 1910s and by the early-1920s generally employed between 80 and 100 hands. Edwin J. Blake died in 1925, just one year after he had sold his share of the business to his brother, Wilbur H. Blake. The firm was reorganized as the Blake Foundry Corporation and continued to operate into the 1930s, however, the business fell into receivership in 1932. The company’s managers regained control of the firm in 1937, yet were forced to cease operations that same year. The Windsor Street plant served as a steel warehouse during the 1950s, and during the early-1960s housed the William Kahn Company, a wholesale school supply distributor.

Number of Existing Buildings

Five (5) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1905, 1910, ca. 1960.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Edwin J. Blake Foundry is comprised of five adjoining blocks located on the west side of Windsor Street, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Windsor and Pavillion Streets. The original portion of the plant was built in 1905 and consists of the three red brick blocks forming an L-shaped footprint the southeast corner of the foundry. The central block is a two-story, 37’ x 32’ office and pattern storage building with segmental-arched window openings, stone window sills, a corbelled brick cornice with miniature engaged turrets, brick parapet, tile coping, and a flat roof. A one-story, 66’ x 36’ finishing room adjoins the office’s north elevation. This has segmental-arched window openings with stone sills, and a side-gabled roof with a 4’-tall clerestory monitor. A one-story, 37’ x 98’ foundry building adjoins the office’s west elevation. This is of brick pier construction and has corbelled bays and a front-facing gable roof. The block lacks door or window openings on its south elevation, and there is a single bay door on its north side. A one-story, 78’ x 88’ red brick addition was erected adjoining the western end of the foundry block in 1910. This housed additional foundry space and is of brick pier construction and has a stepped parapet with brick caps on its south elevation facing Pavilion Street. A 60’ red brick chimney projects through the building’s flat roof. A one-story, 26’ x 68’ concrete block addition with a shed roof was built adjoining the north elevation of the 1910 block ca. 1960. This appears to have been used for shipping and storage and it has a loading bay on its east elevation.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The majority of the original windows have been replaced or the openings infilled with brick, however, the plant appears reasonably well maintained and structurally sound.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (565 Windsor Street) totaling 0.706 acres located on the west side of Windsor Street, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Windsor and Pavillion Streets.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 265/246/14 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

0.706

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

08/31/2015

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 Hartford County, H & C.T. Smith, 1855.
6. Atlas of Hartford County, Beers, Baker & Tilden, 1869.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1885, 1900, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1950.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Hartford City Directories, Various editions.
10. The Hartford Courant, 1905, 1922, 1927, 1930, 1937.