Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Bourne-Fuller Company 1911-1930s
• LaPoint Plasco Mold Company c.1925
• Pioneer Steel Ball Bearing 1946-1980s
• Republic Iron and Steel Company 1930s-
• Upson Nut Co. 1860-1911

Use (Historic)

• Clocks, Precision Equipment
• Fabricated Metal Products
• Mining, Primary Metals

Largest Documented Workforce

200 (1911)

Historic Narrative

A small industrial-blacksmithing operation was established in the village of Unionville in 1854. This early hardware firm made bolts and nuts by manually shaping square iron ingots. The forge shop became mechanized in the 1860s, when it was purchased A.S. Upson and George Dunham, who officially organized it as the Union Nut Company in 1861. As the company grew, it opened a western manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Ohio in 1872 and sales offices in New York and Chicago. A.S. Upson became the firm’s dominant figure, and the company changed its name to the Upson Nut Company in 1882. It expanded its production to the manufacture of rulers and squares. In 1911, a Cleveland firm called the Bourne Fuller Company, located near the western Upson facility, purchased the company for $1,200,000. There were approximately 200 employees at the Unionville plant and nearly 2,000 in Cleveland. In the 1930s, Bourne Fuller sold the Unionville complex to the Republic Steel Company, which continued to produce nuts and bolts at the plant. The company only maintained operations there for a few years, leaving the Unionville plant to serve as a mere warehouse in 1938. In 1940, the Republic Steel Company rented a portion of the building to the Industrial Pressing Company of Needham Heights, Massachusetts.

Number of Existing Buildings

Two (2) freestanding blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1884-1892

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Loft
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The complex once consisted of several connected buildings, but many have been demolished, leaving only two extant. The first is a brick, two-story building that measures approximately 140 by 65 feet. This space, once the western terminus of the complex, was constructed between 1884 and 1892, and was used for packing, shipping, machining, fitting, threading, and other operations. Water for the turbines entered a wheelhouse from a raceway (since filled) along the east side of the building. The second surviving building is a two-story loft with gable roof, also built between 1884 and 1892, and used for storage of stock.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Post and Beam

Roof Form

• Gable

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

• Water (Wheel)

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

Rehabilitation for commercial use 2014.

Specific Location

The former Upson Nut Company Site is on a 3.6 acre parcel at the western corner of Mill Street and South Main Street. Located on the edge of, but not in, the Unionville State Register Historic District.

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 1260 0037 / Link →

Acreage

3.6

Use (Present)

• Mixed-Use
• Other: Comm and res rehab 2014
• Residential

Form Completed By

Michael Forino

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
2. The Hartford Courant, 1890-1940.
3. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1884-1941.
4. State Register Historic District Nomination on file at SHPO office, Hartford, CT.