Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Mather Electric Co. 1887-1895
• Orford Soap Co. - Bon Ami Soap Co. 1899-1959
• Unitype Co. ca. 1897-ca. 1902

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Electrical Equipment
• Rubber & Chemicals

Largest Documented Workforce

150 (1924)

Historic Narrative

The former Orford Soap Company plant was erected for the Mather Electric Company in 1887. The latter firm was organized by Richard H. Mather of Windsor, Connecticut in 1883 and originally manufactured dynamos and electric light bulbs in factories on Commerce Street and then Sheldon Street in Hartford, Connecticut. The company experienced a great deal of initial success and was frequently credited as being one of the best lighting systems in the country during the mid-1880s. The firm completed and occupied its Manchester factory in July 1887 and by the early 1890s produced a diverse range of lighting equipment ranging from one horsepower motors to 500 horsepower generators, and dynamos rated from 25- to 2,500-lights. Despite the quality of its products, however, the firm was impacted by numerous lawsuits for patent infringement brought forward by the Edison Electric Light Company during the early 1890s, and by 1895 the company had been driven into receivership. The company never recovered and was forced to cease operations at the Hilliard Street plant in 1895. The former Mather Electric Company factory housed numerous manufacturing concerns, including the Unitype Company, a manufacturer of typesetting machines, before being occupied by the Orford Soap Company in 1899. The soap manufacturer had initially been organized as the J.T. Robertson Company by Glastonbury resident J.T. Robertson in 1885 and relocated to a mill near the intersection of Oakland and North Main Streets in Manchester in 1891. In 1893, Robertson was joined by two selling and financial agents, William H. and W.H.H. Childs, who embarked on an aggressive campaign to market and distribute his products. The three men organized the Bon Ami Company to serve as a holding company and distribution agent, and the Orford Soap Company was established to manufacture the firm’s shaving and toiletry soaps. In advertising it wares, the firm adopted the slogan “Hasn’t scratched yet” and used a newly hatched chick as its logo. Manufacturing of the Bon Ami brand was conducted on Oakland Street until 1899 when the firm’s mill was destroyed by fire. Following the loss of its plant, the Orford Soap Company resumed production in quarters shared with the Unitype Company on Hilliard Street. By 1903, the soap manufacturer occupied the entirety of the complex and employed over 50 workers. Continued success was paired with considerable growth in both the plant and workforce, and by 1924 the company employed over 150 hands. Robertson also continued to maintain the J.T. Robertson Company throughout this period, and by the 1920s this firm also had soap factories in Syracuse, New York, and Montreal, Canada. Robertson died during a return trip from Europe in September 1922, however, the Orford Soap Company pressed on under the leadership of Everseley and W.H. Childs, and N.T. Pulsifer. The Hilliard Street plant continued to operate into the second half of the 20th century yet was eventually closed when operations were moved to Newark, New Jersey, in 1959. The plant has subsequently housed a variety of tenants and is currently occupied by an independently-owned toy store, an auction house, and a recycling and redemption center.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly ten (10) blocks.

Dates of Construction

1887, ca. 1914, ca. 1922, ca. 1938.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Orford Soap Company plant is comprised of roughly ten adjoining and freestanding blocks located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Hilliard and Electric Streets. The earliest portions of the plant consist of those located at the core of the complex and include three red brick blocks and one wood and brick building erected in 1887. The most notable is the main manufacturing and office building, which is a two-and-a-half-story brick pier structure measuring roughly 42’ x 256’. The building has an ashlar brownstone foundation, stone watertable, full-height window bays, denticulated cornice, and a front-facing gable roof. The building’s façade is anchored by a pair of three-story, 18’ x 18’ rectangular towers located at its southeast and southwest corners. The towers rise to front-facing gable roofs with denticulated cornices, cornice returns, and round-arched openings with denticulated hoods and brownstone sills. The fenestration throughout the building consist of a mix of round- and segmental-arched brick openings with brownstone sills and either denticulated or plain brick lintels. Original windows extant on the north (rear) elevation suggest that the larger window openings were once filled with paired double-hung sash with segmental-arched heads. A pair of brick blocks original to the plant are located adjoining the center of the aforementioned building’s west elevation. These include the factory’s one-story powerplant and two-story boiling/mixing building. They measure roughly 54’ x 26’ and 52’ x 36’, respectively, and are of similar design to the main manufacturing building. An 85’-tall rectangular brick chimneystack stands directly south of the boiler house. The plant’s former shipping, packing, and mixing building is located 35’ west of the northern end of the main manufacturing building. This was built in 1887 and is a three-story brick and frame structure with a side-gabled roof. The building has several ancillary blocks adjoining its east and west elevations and measures roughly 232’ x 52’ overall. A significant addition to the plant was completed ca. 1914 when a new manufacturing block was constructed 50’ west of the powerplant and the boiling/mixing building. It consists of a three-story, 50’ x 120’ red brick building with a flat roof and two three-story ells on its west elevation. The block is of typical brick pier construction and its large rectangular window openings have multi-pane metal sash with hopper style openings (several have been infilled with brick). A one-story, 38’ x 84’ manufacturing block abuts the western elevations of the two ells. This building was erected ca. 1922. It has a concrete foundation and is sheathed with corrugated metal. The building’s front-facing gable roof is topped a partial-length clerestory monitor. Two warehouses were likewise built ca. 1922, these located along Hilliard Street at the southeast and southwest corners of the complex. The building to the southwest is a one-story, 160’ x 42’ wood-frame building with multi-pane metal sash and a clerestory monitor extending along its ridgeline. The building is a one-story, 162’ x 146’ block of brick pier construction. It has a concrete foundation, rectangular window openings with concrete sills (most of these infilled with brick), and a flat roof. The building’s primary entry is located at the southern end of its west elevation and retains its original wood door surround comprised of fluted pilasters and a wide entablature. This warehouse was enlarged ca. 1938 by the addition of a one-story, 154’ x 124’ red brick block adjoining its east elevation. The details of the building are identical to that of its neighbor.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Steel
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron
• Wood Frame

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM
• Metal

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The factory is in overall fair condition. Sections of the plant show some staining and deterioration along their exterior walls and several have had most of their original wood windows replaced or window openings infilled, however, the majority of the plant appears to be structurally sound and reasonably well maintained.

Specific Location

Five legal parcels (65, 75, 81, 85, & 95 Hilliard Street) totaling 5.45 acres at the northeast corner of the intersection of Hilliard and Electric Streets.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 75/2920/95 / Link →
• 75/2920/85 / Link →
• 75/2920/81 / Link →
• 75/2920/75 / Link →
• 75/2920/65 / Link →

Acreage

5.45

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

04/13/2015

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, 1896, 1901, 1911, 1919, 1926, 1947.
8. Hartford Courant, 1892, 1893, 1896, 1904, 1922, 1923.
9. History of Manchester, Connecticut; Spiess, Mathias, 1924.
10. A New England Pattern: The History of Manchester, Connecticut; Buckley, William E., 1973.
11. Historic Resource Inventory of Manchester, 1998.
12. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).