Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• J.H. Sessions & Son Co. 1906-1993

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

50-99 (1936)

Historic Narrative

The origins of the J.H. Sessions and Son Company date back to 1854, when Bristol native John Humphrey Sessions partnered with Henry A. Warner to establish a small woodturning shop in the Polkville section of town. Warner left the firm in 1865, and Sessions continued the business, primarily producing wood turnings for local clockmakers. In 1869, Sessions moved the business from Polkville to a location on North Main Street, opposite Meadow Street, in Bristol’s downtown district, and then in 1870 merged it with a trunk hinge manufactory established by his then recently-deceased brother, Albert J. Sessions. J.H. Sessions dedicated himself to expanding the trunk hardware business and in 1873 brought in his son, J.H. Sessions Jr., as a partner. The company thrived during the 1880s and 1890s, eventually diversifying their lines to include trunk bolts, fixtures, locks, hinges, and rollers; wrought iron corner clamps, felloe plates, and washers; rubber tipped doorstops; and furniture knobs and escutcheons. In 1892, the Hartford Courant noted that the firm occupied the largest factory of its kind in the country and conducted a business of around $250,000 annually. Although the senior Sessions died in 1899, the family maintained the business, successfully carrying it forward into the 20th century. The Sessions family maintained significant industrial enterprises in Bristol in addition to their hardware business. These included a massive foundry established by John H. Sessions and his son William E. Sessions on Farmington Avenue in 1895, and a sprawling clock manufactory on East Main Street acquired by William E. Sessions from the defunct E.N. Welch Manufacturing Company in 1903. Significant improvements were made to both of these plants around the turn of the century, while ground was broken for an entirely new and modern plant for the J.H. Sessions and Son Company in 1905. This was completed and occupied by the firm in 1906. Following the death of his father, J.H. Sessions Jr. brought his own son, Albert L. Sessions, into the firm. This partnership was maintained until J.H. Sessions Jr.’s death on April 2, 1902, whereupon the firm was incorporated. J.H. Sessions and Son continued to be managed like a family business regardless of its new corporate status. Albert L. Sessions, himself a Yale-trained mechanical engineer, served as the company’s combined president, treasurer, and general manager until 1919. At that point he was joined by the fourth generation to serve the firm. This included Paul B. Sessions, president, and John H. Sessions III, secretary. These men managed the firm following the death of Albert L. Sessions in 1937, and were joined by James Sessions, the fifth generation to serve the company, after he was elected vice president in 1951. The J.H. Sessions and Son Company continued to operate well into the second-half of the 20th century. In addition to doing a bustling peacetime business, the firm made significant contributions to American manufacturing efforts during military conflicts, including the World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. This work primarily consisted of the production of hardware used on all manner of trunk lockers, chests, cases, and shipping containers. The firm continued operations in its Riverside Avenue plant until 1993, whereupon it was merged with the Hartford-based Nielsen Tool and Die, Inc. The resultant company, Nielsen Sessions, closed the plant, however, the Sessions family retained the building and subsequently rented it to several light industrial and other tenants.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly seven (7) blocks.

Dates of Construction

1906, ca. 1916.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former J.H. Sessions and Son Company plant is comprised of seven adjoining primary blocks forming a complex located on the north side of Riverside Avenue, roughly 500’ east of Riverside Avenue’s intersection with Hooker Court. The entirety of the plant was completed in 1906 and it remains largely true to the character of its original construction. The southernmost block is a four-story, 100’ x 50’ stone and red brick building with a flat roof. The first, third, and fourth floors were originally used for structure, while the second floor housed office and shipping uses. The building’s design is similar to that applied throughout the remainder of the complex. It has a rough-cut stone foundation and first story, these laid in irregular course and rising to a polished stone watertable. The building’s upper floors are red brick and are adorned with a corbelled brick cornice and polished stone beltcourse and coping on the second and fourth floors, respectively. On the third and fourth floors there are brick piers with corbelled brick and stone capitals at the corner of the building and spaced every three bays across the various elevations. Fenestration on the first story of the block consists of rectangular window openings with stone sills and fifteen-over-fifteen double-hung wood sash. The second-story windows are set in segmental-arched openings with prominent brick keystones and one-over-one double-hung windows with a fixed transom above. A three-sided bay window is located at the western end of the second floor’s south elevation. Window openings on the third and fourth floors of the block are similar to the second floor, however, the fenestration consists of ten-over-fifteen double-hung wood sash. This building also has a water powered elevator. As noted, the remainder of the blocks associated with the plant are similar in their detailing to the aforementioned building. Adjoining the eastern side of the office block’s north elevation there is a four-story, 54’ x 104’ building used as a combined storage, rivet/press room, machine shop, and assembling block, while to the west there is a two-story, 58’ x 75’ annealing and plating building. A two-story, 42’ x 52’ storage and japanning building is located on the east side of the machine shop. This is easily identified by its pitched roof with full-length clerestory monitor. A six-story stair and water tank tower is located at the northwest corner of the machine shop block. This has a painted sign on its south elevation that reads ‘J.H. / Sessions / and Son’. The annealing and plating building originally had a sawtooth monitor roof, however, this was replaced with the present clerestory monitor between 1951 and 1965. Continuing north through the plant the next block is a four-story, 147’ x 42’ building that originally housed drop forging, blowers, a press room, and a second machine shop. The western half of this building originally stood just one story in height, yet was raised to four stories ca. 1916. North of this building There are two final blocks. That to the west is a one-story, 100’ x 45’ flat-roofed storehouse, while to the east there is a one-and-a-half-story, 85’ x 46’ boiler house and mechanical room. The latter has a side-gabled roof with a partial-length clerestory monitor.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Gasoline Engine
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The factory is in fair condition. The majority of the exterior walls appear to be reasonably well maintained, however, show some signs of staining and minor deterioration. The majority of the original wood or metal sash windows throughout the plant have been preserved, although, while in fair condition, are in need of routine maintenance. In 2015, NRC identified as site where radium 226 was used.

Specific Location

A 3.54 acre parcel on the north side of Riverside Avenue east of Hooker Court.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 30A/ / 7 / Link →

Acreage

3.54

Use (Present)

• Mixed-Use
• Other: 6/2021 DECD $2,000,000 award to the New Colony Development Corporation for abatement and remediation activities to convert the former J. H. Sessions & Son Co. complex located at 273 and 296 Riverside Avenue into 91 apartments; Vesta Corp out of Weatogue CT to rehab into apartments. City received $6.8 million CIF grant award 2023 to upgrade/redesign Riverside Ave streetscape; see short video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJU7A-8CeCg). As of spring 2024, city seeking redev proposals due 4/16/24 (https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/273-Riverside-Ave-Bristol-CT/31151223/). Property has been deemed eligible for NR listing; as of 4/2024 a nomination has not been submitted for review.
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

03/12/2015

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, 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1905, 1911, 1916, 1921, 1928, 1951.
8. Bristol City Directory, 1860-1960.
9. Hartford Courant, 1892, 1937, 1954, 1964, 1972.
10. Our Yankee Heritage: The Making of Bristol, Beals, Carlton, 1954.
11. Bristol, Connecticut: In the Olden Time “New Cambridge,” Which Includes Forestville, Smith, Eddy N., 1907.
12. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).