Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• A.J Donahue Co. ca. 1925-ca. 1930
• Birdsey, Somers Co. 1916-ca. 1925
• Bridgeport Impression Die Co. Early 1950s
• E.V. Haffling Company, Inc. Late 1950s
• Foland’s Dairy 1930s

Use (Historic)

• Apparel & Accessories
• Food, Beverage, Tobacco
• Machine Tools, Machinery

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The origins of the Birdsey, Somers Company date to ca. 1860 when Isaac W. Birdsey established his first corset factory in his native town of Huntington (later Shelton), Connecticut. In 1870, Birdsey reorganized the firm as the Birmingham Corset Company, and this met with such considerable success that additional factories were deemed necessary by 1880. One branch was set up in Newark, New Jersey, while a second was established in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The latter was organized as the Bridgeport Corset Company, which operated under the management umbrella of I.W. Birdsey and Company. By 1889, the various plants operated by I.W. Birdsey and Company employed nearly 1,000 hands throughout Connecticut and the firm occupied offices and a wholesale store at 85 Leonard Street in New York, New York. Around 1896, Birdsey joined with Thomas P. Somers and R.H. Hubbell to reorganize the Bridgeport Corset Company as Birdsey, Somers Company. By 1908, Birdsey ceased to be associated with the firm and Somers held assumed the dual role of president and treasurer. In 1913, a new four-story reinforced concrete factory was built for the company at the corner of Barnum and Ridgefield Avenues, however, the firm occupied this plant for just three years. Significant downsizing efforts forced the company to sell the Barnum Avenue plant to the American Graphaphone Company in 1916 and a substantially smaller factory at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Logan Street in Bridgeport was subsequently occupied by the corset manufacturer. The Birdsey, Somers Company remained in business less than ten years after moving to Connecticut Avenue. The firm closed its doors around 1925 and the plant subsequently passed through a series of short-term occupants. This included the A.J. Donahue Company, an elastic textile manufacturer originally established in Milford, Connecticut, during the 1920s; Foland’s Dairy, a milk and ice cream producer operated by Henry W. Foland of Stratford, Connecticut, during the 1930s; the Bridgeport Impression Die Company during the early 1950s; and the E.V. Haffling Company, Inc., tool manufacturers, during the late 1950s. The plant fell into disuse by the late-20th century and remains vacant at the present time.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly three (3) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1916, ca. 1920.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Birdsey, Somers Company factory is comprised of three adjoining primary blocks located on the south side of Connecticut Avenue, at the southeast corner of Connecticut Avenue’s intersection with Logan Street and with additional frontage on Hewitt Street. The most prominent block is the three-story red brick building built at the northwest corner of the property in 1916. This measures 48’ x 92’ and is of brick pier construction. The building has full height window bays with corbelled headers, large rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multipane metal sash with pivot-style openings, a stepped brick parapet on the façade (north elevation, and a flat roof. The primary entrance to the factory consists of a recessed entry with a replacement door located on the eastern end of the façade. A secondary entry is located at the southern end of the west (side) elevation. This consists of a replacement pass-through door topped by a multipane transom. A four-story red brick stairtower with a pyramidal roof is located near the northern end of the block’s east (side) elevation. A two-story, 45’ x 113’ wood-frame block adjoins the east elevation of the aforementioned brick building. This was likewise erected in 1916 and is sheathed with a mix of horizontal and vertical board siding and asphalt shingles manufactured to look like red brick. The block has a modillioned wood cornice and a flat roof. Both roll-up and pass-through doors are located on the first floor of the building’s north (front) elevation, which the window openings on the second floor appear to have been heavily altered and partially infilled. The final primary block associated with the former Birdsey, Somers Company factory was erected adjoining the east elevation of the plant’s two-story wood-frame block ca. 1920. The former is a two-story, 28’ x 108’ red brick block that fronts on Hewitt Street. The building has large rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multipane metal sash with pivot-style openings, a red brick parapet, and a flat roof. A single loading bay is centered on both the first and second floors of the façade (west elevation) and a hoist beam is located just below the roofline. Pass-through doors flank the first-floor loading bay, while windows flank that on the second floor.

Exterior Material(s)

• Asphalt Shingles
• Brick
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The exterior walls of all of the blocks are in need of general repairs, while a number of the windows throughout the plant have been replaced or boarded up.

Specific Location

One 0.45-acre parcel (920 Connecticut Avenue) located on the south side of Connecticut Avenue, at the southeast corner of Bishop Avenue’s intersection with Logan Street and with additional frontage on Hewitt Street; also identified as 506 Logan Street.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 38/713/1/A. / Link →

Acreage

0.45

Use (Present)

• Other: Bought by Incubator Associates in 2018. For sale 11/2023. Total 45k sq ft
• 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, 1916.
13. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport; Orcutt, Samuel, 1886.
14. Men of Progress; New England Magazine, 1898.
15. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity; S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1917.