Mill Community Record West Hartford
FIND ‘MILL COMMUNITIES’- Community Name (Common)
- New Departure Mfg. Co. Housing
- Address or Location
- 82 Cambridge Street, Elmwood, West Hartford
- Specific Location
- In the vicinity of New Britain Avenue’s intersection with Cambridge Street, including along Newington Road, Page Avenue, and Cambridge, Prescott, and Woodlawn Streets.
- County
- Hartford
- Historic Designation
-
n/a
- Associated Mill Complexes
- Architectural and Historical Information
Number of Existing Buildings
One hundred ten.
Dates of Construction
1919-ca. 1930.
Housing Types
Brief Description
In 1919 the New Departure Mfg. Co. purchased a 31-acre piece of land located a short distance to the west of the firm’s West Hartford plant (#2233) with the intention of laying out a residential development for employees. The parcel was situated south of New Britain Avenue and was bounded to the east by the rail line and to the west by Newington Road. The company subdivided the land into 111 lots, which were offered to employees at a discounted rates provided that the employee promise to erect a single- or two-family house and then reside on the property. Known as ‘Endee Homestead,’ the development appears to have been slow to take hold as by August 1924 only 16 lots had been sold. It does not appear that the company erected any of its own housing and by 1926 lots were being offered to builders and the general public. By the early 1930s all but one of the parcels had been developed.
