Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• A.H. Hitchcock Co. ca. 1945-ca. 1950
• Brigeport Mechanical Laboratories ca. 1945
• E. & S. Coats & Suits ca. 1950
• General Shaver Corp. ca. 1935
• Modern Art Craft Co. ca. 1960
• Nite-Bright Sign Co. ca. 1960
• Thomas P. Taylor Co. ca. 1895-1942
• Win-Forte Tool Mfg. Co., Inc. ca. 1950-ca. 1960

Use (Historic)

• Apparel & Accessories
• Fabricated Metal Products
• Paper & Wood Products
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

800 (1905).

Historic Narrative

The Thomas P. Taylor Company was organized in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1893. The firm was established by Thomas P. Taylor, a native of Bristol, Pennsylvania, who arrived in Bridgeport after taking a job with the Warner Brothers Company, a corset manufacturer, in 1877. Taylor entered the Warner Brothers Company as a bookkeeper, yet quickly rose through the management ranks and soon had a financial interest in the business. During the mid-1880s, Taylor developed a baseball of his own patented design and became head of a division of the Warner Brothers Company that was set up for its manufacture. Taylor continued to lead this branch of the firm until around 1890, when he struck out on his own accord. Between 1893 and 1894, Taylor maintained a small factory on Union Street in Bridgeport where he manufactured an array of notions for women’s wear, including bustles and skirt hoops. In 1894, he acquired a mill at the corner of Harral Avenue and James Street that had formerly been occupied by the Teneyke and Baker Shoe Company. Taylor drastically enlarged this plant over the course of the following decade and by 1905 employed over 800 hands. These workers turned out several new lines of notions, including children’s muslin underwear, safety pins, embroidery hoops and hooks, and paper boxes, however, the firm’s most prominent products continued to be its women’s specialties, among them being hose supporters, dress wires, corset wires and clasps, belts and garters, and bustles. The Thomas P. Taylor Company was formally incorporated in 1907, by which time the firm operated a branch factory in London, England and maintained branch offices in New York, Chicago, Boston, and London. Taylor continued to lead the business up until his unexpected death in 1913, whereupon his brother-in-law, F.M. Hammond, previously the firm’s treasurer, assumed the dual role of president and treasurer. Hammond was assisted by Taylor’s son, Henry H. Taylor, as vice president, and his own son, M.B. Hammond, as secretary. The company remained in operation until 1942, with the majority of production being focused on the manufacture of children’s underwear throughout the 1930s. During the mid-1930s, a portion of the Thomas P. Taylor Company plant was leased to the Bridgeport-based General Shaver Corporation, a division of Remington Rand, however, the electric razor manufacturer had vacated the factory by the early 1940s. The factory housed a variety of small manufacturers after the Thomas P. Taylor Company ceased operations. During the mid-1940s these included the Bridgeport Mechanical Laboratories, a screw machine manufacturer, and the A.H. Hitchcock Company, a tool designing firm. The latter business continued to occupy the plant during the early 1950s, by which time the firm had been joined by the Win-Forte Tool Manufacturing Company and E. and S. Coats and Suits, a clothing manufacturer. The 1960s saw two new businesses move into the former Thomas P. Taylor Company plant, these being the Nite-Bright Sign Company and the Modern Art Craft Company, a novelty manufacturer.

Number of Existing Buildings

Three (3) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1895, ca. 1905.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Thomas P. Taylor Company factory consists of three adjoining primary blocks located on the north side of James Street and south side of Sanford Avenue, roughly 100’ east of the intersection of each of these two streets with Harral Avenue. The oldest surviving portion of the plant was built by the Thomas P. Taylor Company around 1895, and was then enlarged to its present size around 1905. This is the two-and-a-half-story, 75’ x 85’ red brick block at the northwest corner of the complex. The ca. 1895 block comprises the building’s southwest quarter, however, the structure overall shares a unified design. It is of brick pier construction and has segmental-arched window openings with brick sills and corbelled brick headers, a corbelled brick cornice, and both hipped and flat roof sections. A one-story, 30’ x 52’ red brick office building was erected along James Street and adjoining the south elevation of the ca. 1895/ca. 1905 block around 1905. The office block has been clad with vertical wood siding – thus obscuring the majority of its original details – however, its red brick foundation and a tall parapet with a denticulated and molded cornice remain visible. The building has a flat roof and a roll-up metal door has been installed at the eastern end of its south (façade) elevation. A two-story, 48’ x 130’ red brick manufacturing block adjoins the east elevation of both the office and the ca. 1895/ca. 1905 block. This was erected around 1905. The building’s south and east elevations have been clad with aluminum siding, however, the original details remain visible on the north and west sides of the block. There are segmental-arched window openings on the first floor of the building, and rectangular window openings on the second. All of the openings have concrete sills and some of the original six-over-six double-hung wood sash remain in place. A loading bay with a roll-up style door is located on the block’s north elevation, where a metal stair also leads to a second-floor pass-through style entry door. The building has a low-pitch hipped roof.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Hip Minor

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The majority of the original window openings have been infilled or boarded up, however, overall, the plant appears structurally sound.

Specific Location

One 0.56-acre parcel (136 James Street) located on the north side of James Street and south side of Sanford Avenue, roughly 100’ east of the intersection of each of these two streets with Harral Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 35/ 1050/ 1 / Link →

Acreage

0.56

Use (Present)

• Other: for sale 2/2019
• 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, 1913.
13. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport; Orcutt, Samuel, 1886.
14. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity; S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1917.