Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Case Bros. Inc. 1861-1970

Use (Historic)

• Paper & Wood Products
• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown

Historic Narrative

In the 1850s, A. Willard Case, son of a local Manchester farmer, worked at one of the town’s earliest paper companies: W. and E. Bruce. In 1861, Willard and his brother Fredrick rented a small mill on the Bruce site and established their own paper-making operation; the mill site was destroyed by fire and flood. Willard and Fredrick then joined their brother, A. Case, at his cotton washing mill in the Highland Park section of town, forming a new partnership. They supplied the Union Army with clothes for use as gun cotton. Soon after the Civil War, the company produced its first paper product: a hard paper board. Paper board became important for many applications in the nineteenth century, notably as punch cards for Jacquard textile looms to create patterned weaves. Other products included leather board and press paper. The company was not incorporated until 1932, when it brought together the Case Brothers of Manchester and another family-related firm, Case and Marshall of East Hartford. In 1960, the company expanded with a plant in Brattleboro, Vermont. The company remained strong throughout the 1960s, having a total of eight million dollars in sales in 1967. That same year, the Case Bros. Inc. merged with the Boise Cascade Corporation of Boise, Idaho; a company with average annual sales exceeding five-hundred million dollars. Operations at the Manchester plant were slowly phased out and shifted to other facilities, and shutdown completely in 1970. Today the mill is owned by a private party and is rented to several small manufacturers.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly ten (10) blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1880s, c.1915

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Loft
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

A fire in 1915 destroyed much of the original complex; all of the existing buildings were either re-built or constructed after 1915. All of the buildings in the complex are attached, with the exception of some out buildings and a large two-story corrugated steel storage structure to the south. The oldest surviving façade is likely a small, two-story, flat roof, brick office building that is attached to the complex at the southeast corner. Directly to the west of the office building is a series of two-story brick loft buildings, with wood structural systems and flat roofs. On the western side of the complex is the engine house, with a square brick smokestack protruding from its gable roof; this structure may have been rebuilt after the fire. To the northeast is a two-story wood-frame building with gable roof enclosed in modern infill. To the north is a slanted, one-story structure which is a post-1950 construction. To the west of that section is a series of three wooden storage buildings that appear to have survived the fire and may date from the 1880s.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Post and Beam
• Wood Frame

Roof Form

• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Metal

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

The former Case Brothers paper mill is located in the Highland Park section of Manchester, Connecticut. The complex is located on 12.89 acres at the corner of Glen Road and Spring Street, just west of the upper Case Pond, along Birch Mountain Brook.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 126/2420/40 / Link →

Acreage

12.89

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Industrial
• Other: For sale 1/2023
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Michael Forino

Date

August 2014

Bibliography

1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
2. The Hartford Courant, 1915-1970.
3. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Manchester, CT, 1896-1949.
4. Fourth Biennial Report of the Factory Inspector (Hartford: State of Connecticut, 1914).