Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Braunworth & Co. 1935-1942
• Locomobile Co. 1922-1929
• Locomobile Co. of America ca. 1920-1922
• Remington Products Co. 1979-2004
• Remington Rand Corp., General Shaver Div. ca. 1942-1955
• Sperry Rand Corp., Remington Shaver Div. 1955-1979

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Electrical Equipment
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

1,800 (1969).

Historic Narrative

The Locomobile Company of America was organized in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1899. The firm was founded after John Brisben Walker, the owner of Cosmopolitan Magazine, partnered with Amzi Lorenzo Barber, a self-made millionaire and paving contractor, to buy out the rights to produce the Stanley Steamer, a steam-powered automobile invented by brothers Francis and Freelan Stanley in 1898. The purchase price was $250,000, an astonishing sum at the time. The partnership between Walker and Barber lasted just several months, however, and personal differences resulted in the company being divided in 1900. Walker began producing his version of the Stanley Steamer, which he called the ‘Mobile,’ in a factory in Tarrytown, New York, while Barber retained both the Locomobile name and the firm’s original Watertown plant. By 1902, Walker had sold only 600 Mobiles and his business subsequently folded. Barber, on the other hand, had produced over 5,200 Locomobiles by that time, thus making the company the largest producer of automobiles in the United States. Locomobiles were driven in the 1905, 1906 and 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Races, held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910. In 1900, the Locomobile Company of America purchased a 40-acre property along the waterfront in Bridgeport, Connecticut with the intention of erecting a new factory there. This was occupied by 1902 and the company soon transitioned away from the manufacture of steam-powered automobiles in favor of those driven by internal combustion gasoline engines or electric motors. This work was spearheaded by Andrew Lawrence Riker, a brilliant young engineer and new employee of the firm. The Locomobile Company of America produced a variety of automobiles and trucks throughout the first decade of the 1900s, however, the shear number of competition in the industry was daunting as there were more than 1,000 manufacturers in operation between 1900 and 1909. In order to separate the company from the fray, management at Locomobile made the decision to concentrate on production of only the highest quality automobiles. This began with the Model M, introduced in 1911, a six-cylinder, 48-horsepower vehicle weighing three tons and manufactured of the finest materials. The company advertised its product as the ‘Best Built Car in America,’ and owners of Locomobile limousines included American royalty with such names as Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Roebling, Wrigley, and Armour. It is important to note, however, that the firm subcontracted all bodywork to other companies, many of these being Bridgeport firms associated with its formerly bustling carriage industry. Following the outbreak of the First World War, the Locomobile Company of America shifted all efforts to the manufacture of a truck of Riker’s design. Branded as the Riker Truck, more of these vehicles were sold to Great Britain in 1914 and 1915 than any other make or model. Riker died unexpectedly at the age of 42 on August 31, 1915, and the firm was significantly hindered by the loss in both an engineering and business sense. The company remained massively profitable during the war years, however, the recession that followed forced the overextended company into bankruptcy by 1920. The firm was acquired and revived as the Locomobile Company by the newly organized Durant Motors in 1922 and the Locomobile brand was used for Durant’s top-of-the-line vehicles until the latter firm failed with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. The Locomobile Company’s Bridgeport plant was subsequently occupied by a variety of industrial tenants, several of these being of great notoriety and significance. In the early 1930s, Buckminster Fuller designed the 'Dymaxion' car. Three prototypes were built by the 4D Company in a rented section of the Locomobile factory; one survives in the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. According to the Buckminster Fuller Instistute: 'The car featured highly innovative, and ultimately influential, features compared with the common car of the day including: a three wheel design with rear wheel steering and front wheel drive, a longer body (20 feet), and a highly aerodynamic design. Success of the design was realized in its performance efficiencies: the car could transport up to 11 passengers, reach speeds of up to 90 miles per hour, and ran 30 miles per gallon.' Between 1935 and 1942 the western half of the complex served as the printing and bookbinding plant of Braunworth and Company, a New York-based printing firm. After Braunworth and Company was dissolved in 1942, the Bridgeport factory passed to the General Shaver division of the Remington Rand Corporation, which occupied the factory despite various acquisitions and name changes until 2004.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly ten (10) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1920, ca. 1930, ca. 1942, ca. 1948, ca. 1970.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The surviving portion of the former Locomobile Company of America plant consists of roughly ten adjoining and freestanding primary blocks located on the east side of Main Street and south side of Henry Street, roughly 100’ south of Main Street’s intersection with University Avenue. The eastern and original half of the former Locomobile Company of America complex was demolished ca. 1970, however, the surviving western half was largely built between ca. 1920 and ca. 1948. The core of the plant is comprised of two adjoining one-story brick pier factory blocks erected ca. 1920. These measure 162’ x 276’ and 162’ x 198’. Both have red brick walls, large rectangular window openings with concrete sills and multipane double-hung windows, and flat roofs with exposed rafter tails and nearly full-length sawtooth monitors. A similar freestanding, one-story, 38’ x 46’ boiler house stands roughly 12’ north of the western manufacturing building; while a one-story, 87’ x 205’ storage block adjoins the north elevation of the eastern factory building. Both were built ca. 1920, however, the storage block has a metal-sheathed addition on its north side that appears to have been a later addition (this likely completed ca. 1930). Another notable portion of the complex adjoins the west elevation of the western manufacturing building. This consists of a two-story, 110’ x 180’ yellow brick office block erected ca. 1948. The building stands on the side of a one-story brick and concrete vault built in 1936, however, it is unclear if the earlier building was demolished or enveloped at the time of the later construction. The ca. 1948 is of a Modernist design and the west and south elevations are dominated by narrow, full-height window openings flanked by projecting vertical concrete fins/shades. Several primary entrances are located on the building’s south elevation, these consisting of paired metal-frame and glass doors sheltered by cantilevered, flat concrete awnings. Several other notable blocks associated with the plant are located north of the western manufacturing block. These appear to have been erected ca. 1942 and ca. 1970 and include a one-story, 86’ x 112’ red brick plastic shop with a sawtooth monitory roof; a one-story, 56’ x 114’ corrugated metal plating shop with a side-gabled roof; a one-story, 62’ x 140’ concrete block warehouse with a flat roof; and a two-story, 52’ x 165’ concrete block and corrugated metal warehouse with a flat roof.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete
• Steel

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The plant is in fair to deteriorated condition. Several of the exterior walls are in need of repairs and many of the windows are damaged or missing, however, overall, the factory appears structurally sound.

Specific Location

One 9.88-acre parcel (76 Main Street) located on the east side of Main Street and south side of Henry Street, roughly 100’ south of Main Street’s intersection with University Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Water (for Transport)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 22/ 542/ 5 / Link →

Acreage

9.88

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

01/22/2016

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 Fairfield County; Baker, William A., 1854.
6. Atlas of the City of Bridgeport; J.B. Beers & Co., 1876.
7. Atlas of the City and Town of Bridgeport; G.M. Hopkins & Co., 1888, 1917.
8. Atlas of Bridgeport; Kershaw, William H., 1910.
9. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1888, 1898, 1904, 1913, 1939, 1950.
10. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1951, 1965, 1970, 1985.
11. Bridgeport City Directory, Various editions.
12. Hartford Courant, 1900, 1935, 1942, 1988.
13. The Locomobile Society of America website.
14. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport; Orcutt, Samuel, 1886.
15. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity; S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1917.
16. Vanderbilt Cup Races website
17. Buckminster Fuller Institute website