Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Hartford Special Machinery Co. 1915-1960
• Smith-Worthington Co. 1960-Present (2015)

Use (Historic)

• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Other: Saddles and Horse Tack

Largest Documented Workforce

375 (1954).

Historic Narrative

NR listed 12/2021 The Hartford Special Machinery Company was organized in Hartford, Connecticut in 1912. The founders of the firm included three residents of Hartford; Ernest Walker and Herbert Knox Smith, both of whom were attorneys, and Joseph Merritt, who was a mechanical engineer and draftsman. The business was established for the manufacture of special machinery tools and fixtures and began work with 12 employees in a small shop on Main Street known as the Wood Building. Within two years the company’s profitability necessitated renting a second floor in the Wood Building, and within another year the decision was made to erect a dedicated factory on Homestead Avenue. A substantial addition was made to this plant in 1920, by which time the firm employed 150 hands. The Hartford Special Machinery Company continued to manage fairly well through the 1920s and successfully weathered the initial fallout of the stock market crash of 1929. Between 1920 and 1930, the firm had made several further additions to its Homestead Avenue factory and by 1930 employed 175 workers, although this number would dip slightly as the depression ran its course. By the 1920s, the company’s activities could be roughly divided into three categories. These included the design and manufacture of new single-purpose automatic machinery, the mass production of machines previously developed by other firms, and the in-house manufacture of all varieties and sizes of gears and cams. This operational diversity, of which the company boasted ‘You name it, we’ll make it,’ allowed the Hartford Special Machinery Company’s to survive the Great Depression and the company expanded significantly during the 1940s as a result of the American industrial boom that corresponded with World War Two. Between 1953 and 1954, the Hartford Special Machinery Company built a new assembly plant in the Weatogue section of Simsbury, Connecticut, as all room for expansion along Homestead Avenue had been expended. Around 100 of the firm’s 475 were employed in Simsbury in 1954, however, the company eventually moved all operations and employees to the new plant in 1960. The firm’s Homestead avenue complex was subsequently occupied by the Smith-Worthington Company, a saddlery firm originally established in Hartford in 1794. Smith-Worthington is the nation’s oldest manufacturer of saddles and tack and continues to operate on Homestead Avenue. At present, Smith-Worthington shares the former Hartford Special Machinery Company factory with a variety of small manufacturing and commercial firms.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly five (5) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1915, 1920, 1923, 1926, 1942.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Hartford Special Machinery Company plant is comprised of four primary adjoining blocks located on the south side of Homestead Avenue, at the southwest corner of Homestead Avenue’s intersection with Woodland Street. The oldest portion of the factory was built in 1915 and is currently located at the core of the plant. The original building measured roughly 322’ x 60’, however, numerous additions to the south (rear) side of the plant have increased the depth of the footprint to between 80’ and 120’. The initial plant stood one-story tall and was of brick pier construction. The building has red brick walls, large rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multi-pane metal windows with hopper-style openings, a plain cornice, and a flat roof with sawtooth monitors in various locations. Several areas of the building were raised to two stories during the 1940s. A one-story, 200’ x 60’ brick pier addition to the plant was built at the western end of the complex in 1920. This initially stood separate from the original plant, however, the two buildings were linked by the 1930s. The details of the addition mimic the original factory and it was likewise expanded to the south in various stages during the 1930s and 1940s. The second major addition to the former Hartford Special Machinery Company plant was erected adjoining the factory’s eastern elevation in 1942. Like the earlier blocks it is of brick pier construction with red brick walls, large rectangular window openings with concrete sills and multi-pane metal windows with hopper-style openings, a plain cornice, and a flat roof with two large sawtooth monitors. The building stands one story tall and measures 200’ x 80’. The final building of note associated with the plant is a one-story, 16’ x 12’ red brick gatehouse with a hipped roof. This stands roughly 10’ east of the 1942 addition, alongside the a driveway leading to the rear of the complex.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. Many of the exterior walls are in need of cleaning and minor repairs, however, a majority of the original windows have been preserved.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (287 Homestead Avenue) totaling 2.58 acres located on the south side of Homestead Avenue, at the southwest corner of Homestead Avenue’s intersection with Woodland Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 176/181/1 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

2.58

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Industrial
• 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, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1930, 1953, 1954, 1960, 1982.