Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Bennett Metal Treating Co. 1915-1963
• Goodwin Brothers Pottery Co. mid-to-late-19th c.-1917
• Sousa Corp. 1963-2004
• Superior Upholstery Co. ca. 1940-mid-to-late-20th c.
• United Upholstery Co. ca. 1930-ca. 1940
• W.R. Bennett Co. 1918-1922

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

1-9 (1939).

Historic Narrative

The Bennett Metal Treating Company was established by Wilbur R. Bennett in 1915. Bennett was born in New Britain, Connecticut in 1872 and was educated in the public schools of that city. At the age of 18, Bennett found employment in the steel-treating department of the Pratt and Whitney Company of Hartford, where he remained for eleven years. He then went on to work for the Stanley Works in New Britain for seven years, and the New Departure Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Connecticut, for five years. Bennett served as head of the steel treating department at the latter firm, a clear indication of his experience and skills in the field. After striking out on his own in 1915, Bennett established a small foundry and metal-treating shop in a building formerly occupied by the Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company in West Hartford. This facility was enlarged in 1917, and then in 1918 a general manufacturing branch of the firm was incorporated as the W.R. Bennett Company. In 1922, the entire operation was reorganized and incorporated as the Bennett Metal Treating Company after Bennett sold the firm to a group of investors. Several years later, Bennett relocated to Maplewood, New Jersey, where he organized a new metal treating venture. Around 1930, a portion of the Bennett Metal Treating Company plant was acquired by Joseph A. Gallinoto, an Italian immigrant who had recently formed the United Upholstery Company, an upholstery and furniture-building shop. It appears that Gallinoto enlarged the acquired portion of the Bennett factory, expanding it some 48’ to the east in order to house his business. Gallinoto vacated the plant during the late 1930s, whereupon it was occupied by the Superior Upholstering Company, Inc. The Bennett Metal Treating Company remained in business until 1963, when the firm was acquired by the Sousa Corporation, a company formed that year by Norman W. Sousa Sr. Sousa was an employee of the Bennett Metal Treating Company and under the Sousa Corporation operations continued largely uninterrupted. Sousa occupied the New Britain Avenue plant until around 2004, at which time the business moved to Newington, Connecticut. Both the former metal-treating and upholstery shops are currently vacant.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly five (5) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

Mid-to-late-19th c, 1917, ca. 1922, ca. 1930, late-20th c.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Bennett Metal Treating Company plant is comprised of five adjoining blocks located on the south side of New Britain Avenue, at the southwest corner of the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Railroad Place and opposite New Park Avenue’s intersection with New Britain Avenue. The oldest portion of the plant is a one-story, 102’ x 40’ red brick block set back roughly 90’ south of New Britain Avenue. The building was originally erected during the mid-to-late-19th century for the Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company, yet was acquired by the Bennett Metal Treating Company in 1915. The block has segmental-arched window openings, a denticulated brick cornice, and a side-gabled roof. Small skylights dot the roof and a square red brick chimney rises from the south (rear) side of the building. A one-story, 37’ x 70’ red brick block with a front-facing gable roof was erected adjoining the western end of the original building in 1917. This extends towards New Britain Avenue and has a concrete foundation, red brick walls with detailed rectangular and diamond-shaped brickwork on its façade, and a stepped red brick parapet. The façade has rectangular door and window openings with stone sills, while the windows on the west (side) elevation are set in segmental-arched openings with brick sills. An embossed concrete plaque centered in the gable-end of the façade reads, “BENNETT METAL TREATING CO” and a former wire glass skylight extends along the block’s ridgeline. Two one-story red brick blocks are located on the east side of the 1917 building. These measure 33’ x 70’ and 48’ x 70’, respectively, and were built ca. 1922 and ca. 1930. They have concrete foundations, painted red brick walls, floor-to-ceiling storefronts extending across the façade (north elevation), a brick parapet with rectangular and diamond-shaped brickwork, and flat roofs. The brickwork in the parapet of the ca. 1930 block mimics that used in the ca. 1922 building, however, the extent of the earlier of the two blocks is visible where parapet details have been retained, yet largely painted over. The final structure associated with the plant is a modern one-story, 75’ x 32’ concrete block building that adjoins the south elevation of the original block.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. A number of the exterior walls are in need of cleaning or minor repairs and many of the original windows have been replaced with modern units.

Specific Location

Two legal parcels (1041 & 1045 New Britain Avenue) totaling 0.67 acres located on the south side of New Britain Avenue, at the southwest corner of the intersection of New Britain Avenue and Railroad Place and opposite New Park Avenue’s intersection with New Britain Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 3771 1 1045 0001 / Link →
• 3771 1 1041 0001 / Link →

Acreage

0.67

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

8/17/2015

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. Atlas of Hartford City and West Hartford Town, Connecticut; L.J. Richards & Co., 1896.
6. Atlas of Hartford City and West Hartford Town, Connecticut; L.J. Richards & Co., 1909.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1917, 1923, 1950.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Hartford City Directory, Various editions.
10. Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography; American Historical Society, 1923.
11. West Hartford; Hall, William H., 1930.