Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Emhart Manufacturing Co. 1951-1962
• Hartford Empire Co. 1922-1951
• Hartford Fairmont Co. 1918-1922
• Salvation Army, Inc. 1962-Present (2015)

Use (Historic)

• Machine Tools, Machinery

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown for facility; 32,000 g

Historic Narrative

The origins of the Hartford Empire Company can be traced to Hartford, Connecticut in 1910. It was that year that a small mechanical engineering shop operated by William A. Lorenz and William H. Honiss was contracted to assist the Beech-Nut Packing Company of Canajoharie, New York, in developing machinery that would allow glass manufacturers to produce jars and tumblers that could hold up to the vacuum sealing processes employed by the company. Under this contract, an engineer in the employ of Lorenz and Honiss by the name of Karl E. Peiler succeeded in developing an automatic machine that revolutionized the glass-forming process. A patent for the device was secured and in 1912 the Hartford Fairmont Company was organized for its production. Among the directors of the Hartford Fairmont were Bartlett Arkell, president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company; H.L. Heintzelman, president of the Monongah Glass Company of Fairmont, West Virginia; and numerous Hartford representatives, including Lorenz, Honiss, and Peiler. The manufacture of glass-making machinery and glassware by the Hartford Fairmont Company initially took place at the firm’s plant in Fairmont, West Virginia, however, machinery production was moved to Arch Street in Hartford, in 1916. In 1918, the company erected a new factory at 333 Homestead Avenue in order to develop and manufacture a full line of glass-forming machinery. Hartford Fairmont was reorganized as the Hartford Empire Company in 1922 after the firm acquired control of patents held by the Empire Machinery Company, a division of the Corning Glass Works of Corning, New York. Peiler served as the company’s chief engineer and oversaw development and production of the firm’s ‘Hartford Glass Working Equipment,’ which became an industry standard. In 1929, the firm announced plans to erect an experimental materials plant, which would be located on Homestead Avenue some 500’ north of the company’s main factory. Like the primary plant, the experimental materials building was expanded several times as Hartford Empire grew into the largest manufacturer of glass-making machinery in the country during the 1930s. In 1939, the firm’s dominant position drew the attention of the Federal Government, which implicated Hartford Empire along with the Owens-Illinois Glass Company of Ohio in an anti-trust suit claiming that through patent licensing agreements the two firms controlled 97-percent of glass container production in the United States. The Hartford business was managed under a receivership until 1946, whereupon the company was reorganized and a board of managers entirely comprised of Hartford representatives was elected. Despite the restructuring, the Hartford Empire Company remained the preeminent manufacturer of glass-forming machinery in the United States and in 1946 70-percent of all glass containers produced in the country were made with Hartford equipment. Management conducted an aggressive series of mergers and acquisitions throughout the 1940s, and in 1951 was reorganized as the Emhart Manufacturing Company in an effort to better reflect the diverse array of product and machine tool capabilities possessed by the firm by the time. In 1961, the Emhart Manufacturing Company built a new facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Although initial reports stated that the firm’s two plants on Homestead Avenue would not be impacted, use of the buildings was discontinued the following year, with the main plant being subsequently occupied by the Salvation Army. Emhart Manufacturing merged with the American Hardware Corporation to form the Emhart Corporation in 1964, which boasted peak global employment of 32,000 workers. The company was divided and various pieces sold off after being acquired by Black and Decker in 1989, however several divisions, including Emhart Teknologies of Shelton, Connecticut, and Emhart Glass of Windsor, Connecticut survive either independently or under corporate ownership.

Number of Existing Buildings

Two (2) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1918, 1926, ca. 1930, ca. 1940, ca. 1945.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Hartford Empire Company’s main plant is comprised of two adjoining blocks located on the south side of Homestead Avenue, opposite Homestead Avenue’s intersection with Adams Street. The oldest portion of the plant was built in 1918 and is currently located at the core of the southern of the two easily discernable blocks. The original building measured roughly 194’ x 100’, however, numerous additions have resulted in its present footprint of 290’ x 100’. The earliest portion can be identified in reference to the primary entrance at the eastern end of the north (front) elevation. The entry has a prominent concrete door surround with a tall entablature and the original block included the three bays to the east of the door, and extended twelve bays to the west. The eastern half of this building was two stories tall, while the remainder stood one story in height until being raised to two stories ca. 1940. The building is of brick pier construction and has a raised concrete foundation, red brick walls, corbelled full-height window bays, and a flat roof with a plain cornice and exposed rafter tails. Two sawtooth monitors rise from both the original and later two-story sections. A two-and-a-half-story, 50’ x 100’ red brick addition with a flat roof was erected adjoining the eastern end of the original block in 1926. This mimics the details of the original building, yet the interior third of the block stands only one-and-a-half-stories in height. This creates a lightwell on the interior side of the two-story sections, suggesting that these relatively spaces were used as offices. A one-story, roughly 42’ x 100’ block was erected adjoining the west elevation of the original building ca. 1930. This was raised to two stories along with the western end of the plant ca. 1940 and as a result is similar in the majority of its details. The final primary addition to the facility appears to have been built adjoining the west elevation of the ca. 1930 block around 1945. This building is a one-story, 56’ x 100’ red brick block with large rectangular window openings, concrete window sills, and a stepped brick parapet with concrete coping. The parapet roughly follows the profile of the block’s clerestory monitor, which extends the full length of the building.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Monitor
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The majority of the original windows have been replaced and parts of the openings infilled, however, otherwise, the plant appears well maintained overall.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (333 Homestead Avenue) totaling 1.67 acres located on the south side of Homestead Avenue, opposite Homestead Avenue’s intersection with Adams Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 153-181-005 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

1.67

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, 1920, 1926, 1929, 1930, 1933, 1939, 1940, 1946, 1964.