Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Edward Miller & Co. ca. 1868-1924
• Miller Co. 1924-Present (2015)

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Electrical Equipment
• Mining, Primary Metals

Largest Documented Workforce

800 (1906)

Historic Narrative

The origins of Edward Miller and Company date to 1844 when Edward Miller joined with his father to form Joel Miller and Son, which assumed a business originally founded by Horatio N. Howard for the production of screws, candle holders, candlestick springs, and oil lamps. Within two years, at the age of 20, Miller bought out his father’s share of the firm and established a substantial wooden mill on the site of the present Center Street facility. The former was destroyed by fire in 1856, however, Miller quickly rebuilt and began producing a new line of lamp burners, known as the Miller Lamp, designed to burn kerosene distilled from coal. Miller was the fist manufacturer in the country to offer such a product and its success, along with the popularity of an array of other bronze, sheet brass, and brass items, led to the rapid growth of Miller’s company. In July 1866, Edward Miller and Company was incorporated with $200,000 in capital. The firm continued to expand through the late-1860s and in 1868 a proprietary rolling mill was established in order to allow the company to control the quality and supply of brass and other sheet metals. This became critical in 1884 when Edward Miller and Company began manufacturing the ‘Rochester’ line of oil lamps for the Rochester Lamp Company of New York, New York, which the Meriden company turned out in over 2000 variations. Edward Miller and Company continued to produce Rochester lamps until 1892, when the contract was awarded to the Bridgeport Brass Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Miller quickly regrouped after losing the Rochester contract and his company eventually capitalized on the use of both natural gas and electricity for household heating, cooking, and lighting applications. Edward Miller and Company produced a diverse array of gas lighting fixtures and stoves during the late-19th century and went on to design a tungsten filament light bulb in the early 1900s, and then mercury vapor and fluorescent lighting during by the 1930s. In 1906, the company employed over 800 workers and boasted $500,000 in capital. At that time the firm was led by Edward Miller, secretary; Edward Miller Jr., secretary and treasurer; Benjamin C. Kennard, assistant treasurer; and Arthur E. Miller, superintendent. In 1924, Edward Miller and Company merged with the Duplexalite Corporation of New York, New York, and the Ivanhoe-Regent Works of Cleveland, Ohio to form the Miller Company, an entity with assets valued at $5,000,000. The firm was headquartered in the Meriden plant and it assumed a preeminent place among the country’s lighting manufacturers. Its president from 1955-1987, Burton Tremaine had begun at the company in 1947. By then married to Emily Hall, an art collector, their interests in modern art and design were reflected in the company's lighting designs and its corporate art collection. While the company continues to operate within a mix of historic and new facilities on Center Street, its output has shifted away from lighting towards the production of rolled copper and other alloys. The company has since been acquired by the Duerer Corporation yet continues to operate as the Miller Company.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly seven (7) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1868, ca. 1920, 1938, 1951, ca. 1965-66, 1985, ca. 2000.

Architect

Leo F. Caproni (1938, 1951 additions); Philip Johnson (1965-66 addition)

Builder

H. Wales Lines Co. (1951 addition)

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The Miller Company plant is comprised of approximately seven primary adjoining one- and two-story blocks of red brick, concrete block, or sheet metal construction located on the east side of Center Street roughly opposite its intersection with Miller Street and extending north to Pratt Street. The majority of the present plant’s square footage is of modern construction as three large steel-frame additions, built in 1965-66 and designed by Philip Johnson,1985 and ca. 2000 and measuring 236’ x 295’, 262’ x 84’, and 240’ x 161’, are located on the northern half of the property. Four historically significant blocks can be found on the southern half of the plant. These are the sole remainders of a sprawling brick plant that formerly extended to the south yet was demolished during the late-20th century. From north to south, the four remaining blocks consist of a one-and-a-half-story, 60’ x 206 concrete block foundry with red brick curtain walls and a clerestory monitor roof built ca. 1920; a one-and-a-half-story-story, 51’ x 204’ red brick rolling mill with a clerestory monitor roof erected ca. 1920; a one-and-a-half-story-story, 51’ x 178’ red brick rolling mill with clerestory monitor roof constructed ca. 1868; and a one-story, 141’ x 103’ red brick manufacturing block built ca. 1960. The roofs of the foundry and the two rolling mills rise behind a one-story brick façade that was erected ca. 1940. This has a concrete foundation, red brick walls, and large multi-pane metal windows with hopper style windows. The manufacturing block to the south is of similar design. The clerestory monitors of the foundry and two rolling mills retain the openings running along their north and south sides, which are filled with multi-pane sash.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Steel

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The factory is in overall fair condition. Although some of the original windows have been replaced or infilled, the majority of the plant appears structurally sound and reasonably well maintained.

Specific Location

One 19.5-acre parcel (99 Center Street) on the east side of Center Street roughly opposite its intersection with Miller Street and extending north to Pratt Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 0301-0085-0001-0011 / Link →

Acreage

19.5

Use (Present)

• Industrial
• Other: For sale by Miller Co., 8/2021; sold 2/2023. Note: 99Center St is address in assessor records but commonly used address is 275 Pratt St.

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

05/22/2015

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 New Haven County, H & C.T. Smith, 1856.
6. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
7. Birdseye View of Meriden, Connecticut, O.H. Bailey & Co., 1875.
8. Birdseye View of Meriden, Connecticut, Hughes and Bailey, 1918.
9. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1891, 1896, 1901, 1950, 1953.
10. Hartford Courant, 1906, 1924, 1965.
11. An Historic Record and Pictorial Description of the Town of Meriden, Connecticut; Gillespie, C. Bancroft, ed., 1906.
12. A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County; Hill, Everett G., 1918.
13. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).
14. Information, historic photographs and sources for Leo Caproni courtesy Gregg Bateman (2018).
15. Caproni, Leo F. ‘Leo F. Caproni Architect & Engineer’ (1938 booklet)