Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Andrew Terry Company c.1870-c.1960
• Malleable Iron Works 1847-c.1870
• O.Z. Gedney Company c.1960-c.1990

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

200 (c.1945)

Historic Narrative

In 1847, Andrew Terry (1824-1877) established the Malleable Iron Works, a small forge shop employing about twenty men on the Pequabuck River in the Terryville section of town. Terry was the grandson of clock maker Eli Terry, and the brother of James Terry, the first president of the Eagle Lock Company, also in Plymouth. Around 1860, Terry formed a joint stock corporation with two partners, and the company was renamed the Andrew Terry Co. The partners bought Terry out c.1870, after which, in 1875, he founded the Bristol Foundry Company (later the Sessions Foundry Company supplying hardware for Sessions and Son in Bristol). The dam at Horseshoe Falls along Canal Street was built to power the factory, and the factory complex burned down and was rebuilt at some time prior to 1895. By the 1890s, the company was melting about 6 tons of iron daily, using six furnaces, eight annealing furnaces and two cupolas for melting ore. During the Second World War, the peak of operations, the firm employed some 200 people. By 1960, Andrew Terry Company merged with the Gedney Electric Co., manufacturers of electrical fittings, and in the 1970s was bought by General Signal Corporation, of Stamford, CT, to become the O-Z Gedney Company. Production continued at the site until the 1990s. The foundry produced gray iron castings, including carriage, car, harness and scythe trimmings, wrenches, and in the 20th century a cast metal cable device for elevators.

Number of Existing Buildings

Nine (9) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1900 -1940

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

Several of the buildings have been demolished within the last few years; nine major building sections remain, all of which were built prior to 1908, with the exception of the post-1940s two-story concrete building on the eastern end of the property. At the western end of the complex is a one-story casting shed with monitor roof. Attached perpendicularly to the east is a one-story production shed with gable roof. Further east is a wider production shed with monitor roof. Detached to the north along South Riverside Avenue are the office (western gable roof building) and pattern storage (eastern flat roof building). A small free standing gable roof storage shed sits to the southeast along the river. The next building built prior to 1908 is a monitor roof structure surrounded by post-1940s modern infill additions at the center of the complex, with a smaller monitor roof structure to the northeast and a one-story production shed with monitor roof to the southeast.

Exterior Material(s)

• Steel
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Post and Beam

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Metal
• Wood

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam
• Water (Turbine)

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

All portions of the building are in generally good condition.

Specific Location

One 18 acre parcel at the southern end of William Street, south of South Riverside Avenue and north of the Pequabuck River.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)
• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 00323800 five cards / Link →

Acreage

18

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Mike Forino

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
2. History of the Town of Plymouth Connecticut, Francis Atwater, 1895 Journal Publishing Co. Meriden.
3. The Hartford Courant, 1877-1960.
4. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Terryville, 1908-1942.