Mill Record Plainville

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Disclaimer: Content for these properties was compiled in 2014-2017 from a variety of sources and is subject to change. Updates are occasionally made under Property Information, however the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation (dba Preservation Connecticut) makes no representation or warranty that the information is complete or up-to-date.

Complex Name (Common)
Edwin Hills Manufacturing Co.
Complex Name (Historic)
  • Edwin Hills Manufacturing Co.
Address or Location
11-17 North Washington Street, Plainville
County
Hartford
Historic Designation
Associated Mill Community
n/a
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Historic Information

Companies Associated w/Complex

  • Hills Manufacturing Company 1832-1931

Use (Historic)

Largest Documented Workforce

60 (1910)

Historic Narrative

The Hills Manufacturing Company was organized c.1834 by Hiram Hills (1810-1875). Over the next several decades, the company made a variety of wood products: shingles, forms for wooden locks, hames for hitching animals to plows or wagons, window sash, blinds and doors. Hiram sold the business to two of his sons and a son-in-law in 1874, whereupon the firm became Hills Brothers and Company and began to concentrate on hame production. In 1885, Edwin Hills became sole proprietor, and altered the manufacturing equipment to make hames out of iron. Under his leadership the company’s product line grew to include bridles, harnesses, buckles and household utensils such as lemon juicers, belt buckles, icepicks and chisels. Though among Plainville’s most established enterprises, family tragedy and financial hardship led to its demise. Edwin Hills, who became a State Representative in 1908 and was a founder of the First National Bank of Plainville in 1909, disappeared that year while visiting New York City, and was found dead in a hotel room where he was registered under an assumed name. In 1927, his son, Edwin H. Hills, who had taken over the company, committed suicide by drowning in a lake. Beset by financial trouble during the Depression, the company closed its doors by 1931. A division of the Trumbull Electric Company (later GE Energy Industrial Solutions), also of Plainville, occupied the factory between 1931 and 1942. Today the building is occupied by commercial tenants, including a fine art restorer, dealer and a custom framer.

Architectural Information

Number of Existing Buildings

Three (3) primary blocks with additions.

Dates of Construction

c.1911-1920; c.1950-1960

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

Architectural Description

Though the various Hills manufactories have occupied the site since the 1830s, the oldest extant structures date between 1911 and 1922. They are all three-story brick buildings with flat roofs at the northern end of the complex along North Washington Street. To the rear or southwest is a one-story cinder block addition from c.1950-1960.

Exterior Material(s)

Structural System(s)

Roof Form

Roof Material

Power Source

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

All portions of the building are in generally good condition.

Property Information

Specific Location

Two lots totaling 2.70 acres on the west side of North Washington Street and north of West Main Street in Plainville, Connecticut.

Adjacent To

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

Acreage

2.524; 0.18

Use (Present)

Sources

Form Completed By

Michael Forino

Date

n/a

Bibliography

  1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
  2. Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases.
  3. Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography: Genealogical Memorial, Volume 4 (New York: 1917).
  4. Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, Vol. VII (Putnam CT: William Harrison Taylor, 1910).
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Photographer

n/a

Photography Date

n/a