Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• F. D. Grave and Son 1901-1985

Use (Historic)

• Food, Beverage, Tobacco

Largest Documented Workforce

150 (1905)

Historic Narrative

The F. D. Grave company was founded in 1884 by Frederick D. Grave in New Haven. A German immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1861, Grave learned the cigar trade in Ohio, New York and New Haven. He began making his own line of cigars under the Judges Cave trademark in 1884 with some ten or so employees. In 1901, Grave built the factory on State Street where the company operated until 1985. The factory produced some 100,000 hand-rolled cigars each week in 1905. Connecticut grown broadleaf wrappers have been used with imported Havana filler since the beginning of operations until the Cuban embargo of 1964; filler thereafter was a combination of domestic and imported tobacco. The firm continues to make cigars at its facility in Pennsylvania and maintains their office at 85 State Street in North Haven. Members of the New England chapter of the Society of Industrial Archaeologists visited the factory just prior to its move, documenting the activities, including the forming of the cigars themselves from broadleaf and shredded tobacco using automatic machines installed in 1938 at an average pace of 4000 to 6000 cigars per day.

Number of Existing Buildings

One (1) block.

Dates of Construction

1901

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

n/a

Architectural Description

The four story brick factory building has six bay Romanesque-style arched windows on the fourth floor front facade with centered figural flagpole shelf and dentil cornice molding. The street level cast iron facade has been modernized.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

Good

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

One 0.17 acre parcel on the west side of State Street between Crown and George Streets


Located in Ninth Square National Historic District (1984).
http://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=c57355da-8cf0-41bb-8625-5f28dd70af6b

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 240/ 0224/ 01300 / Link →

Acreage

0.17

Use (Present)

• Commercial

Form Completed By

Renée Tribert

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. 'Our History,' F. D. Grave and Son, n.d. Web; accessed April 2016.
2. 'Current Research in New England: Connecticut, A Visit to a Cigar Factory,' Society for Industrial Archaeology New England Chapters Newsletter, volume 5 number 2, 1985. Web; accessed April 2016.
3. Roth, Matthew, and Bruce Clouette. 1984. Ninth Square Historic District National Register Nomination No. National Park Service.