Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Burnside Tissue Mills, Inc. 1919-1925
• Cottontex Products Company, Inc./Sanitary Paper Mills, Inc. ca. 1926-1965
• F.R. Walker & Co. 1864-ca. 1890
• Hanmer & Forbes Co. 1863-1864
• Hudson & Goodwin ca. 1835-1863
• J.H. Walker & Co. ca. 1890-1919

Use (Historic)

• Paper & Wood Products

Largest Documented Workforce

50-99 (1939)

Historic Narrative

The site of the former J.H. Walker and Company paper mill – the uppermost (eastern) of three water privileges in the proximity of the Forbes Street bridge over the Hockanum River – has served as the location of various mills since the late 17th century. The earliest use was that of a saw mill, and later a paper mill built by the Hudson and Goodwin Company, publishers of the Hartford Courant, in 1789. Hudson and Goodwin manufactured newsprint and book paper in the mill from 1811-1863, and erected the earliest surviving buildings located on the site in 1835. In 1863, the mill was acquired by the Hanmer and Forbes Company, which sold it to a local industrialist, F.R. Walker, the following year. Organized as F.R. Walker and Company, Walker’s firm maintained the paper mill through the 1890s. The company produced several lines of paper products, these ranging from cardboard to Federal revenue stamp paper. The contract for the latter, which was secured in 1893 and 1894, required that a United States government inspector review the product before it was sent to Federal engravers, and that they be on hand at all times in order to do so. During the late 1890s, F.R. Walker and Company was reorganized as the J.H. Walker and Company, this after control of the firm passed to F.R. Walker’s son. The J.H. Walker and Company continued to operate through the late 1910s. The firm closed its doors by 1919, at which time the Forbes Street plant was purchased by Burnside Tissue Mills, Inc., a manufacturer of tissue paper. This operated for just five years, and in 1926 the mill was acquired by the Cottontex Products Company. The company’s primary product, known as Cottontex, was a fabric made from wood pulp and cotton that was used as a surgical dressing. By the 1930s, the company dropped the product and its name, reorganizing as the Sanitary Paper Mills, Inc. and shifting production to a line of facial tissues marketed under Dovalette trade name. Sanitary Paper Mills expanded into the toilet tissue and sanitary wipes business during the 1940s and 1950s, and in 1954 provided its products to over 2,500 hospitals throughout the country. Sanitary Paper Mills continued to operate its East Hartford plant until 1965, whereupon the facility was sold to the Swanee Paper Corporation of New York, New York. The mill has since passed through a succession of owners, yet today continues to operate as a paper mill.

Number of Existing Buildings

Ten (10) blocks.

Dates of Construction

1835, ca. 1865, ca. 1890, 1920, 1949, 1955, ca. 1960, ca. 2000

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former J.H. Walker and Company plant is an L-shaped factory complex comprised of approximately ten adjoining primary blocks located on the east side of Forbes Street and directly south of the Hockanum River. The oldest portions of the mill date to 1835 and are located closest to the river. The plant was expanded in numerous phases throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and today presents a confusing amalgam of one-, two-, and three-story manufacturing, administrative, and storage buildings. The oldest blocks consist of several red brick structures located on the northern side of the plant, these consisting of a one-story, 77’ x 56’ beater room; a two-story, 24’ x 20’ wheel house; a one-story, 34’ x 31’ storehouse; and a three-story, 56’ x 47’ warehouse. These were accompanied by a one-story, 147’ x 56’ red brick manufacturing building ca. 1865, and another 126’ x 95’ brick finishing building ca. 1890. A two-story red brick office block was built at the northwest corner of the plant in 1955, and the western side of the factory was expanded southward through the addition of various one- and two-story manufacturing and storage blocks throughout the 20th century.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block
• Steel

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Metal

Power Source

• Electricity
• Water (Turbine)
• Water (Wheel)

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The factory complex is in generally good condition, however, some of the older buildings located along the river show early signs of deterioration.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (40 Forbes Street) totaling 6.2 acres on the southwest side of Church Street, north of the Hockanum River.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 47-91 / Link →

Acreage

6.2

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

12/15/2014

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. Smith’s Map of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1855.
6. Sanborn Map Company, 1897, 1903, 1908, 1919, 1920, 1927, 1949.
7. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
8. The Hartford Courant, 1898, 1915, 1940, 1954.
9. East Hartford: Its History and Traditions, 1879.
10. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).