Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Culox Technologies, Inc. 1994-Present (2015)
• Formatic Co. 1944-1956
• GTE Sylvania 1959-1994
• Sylvania Electric Products Co. 1956-1959

Use (Historic)

• Electrical Equipment
• Mining, Primary Metals

Largest Documented Workforce

70 (1956).

Historic Narrative

This industrial facility was erected in 1942 for the Formatic Company, which was organized in Naugatuck, Connecticut that same year by Arvid T. Peterson. The firm specialized in the manufacture of specialty parts used in the production of eyelet machines employed by a variety of industries. The company numbered 70 employees by the mid-1950s and in 1956 it was sold to the Danvers, Massachusetts-based Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. Management and employees of the Formatic Company remained with the business after the acquisition, however, a new plant manager, Carl J. Albrecht, was moved from a Sylvania plant in Nelsonville, Ohio to run the Naugatuck facility. Sylvania Electric Products manufactured a wide range of electrical equipment including that used in the production of radios, lighting, and electrical distribution units. The origins of the firm date back to 1901 and the formation of the Bay State Lamp Company in Danvers, Massachusetts. In 1909, this was reorganized as the Hygrade Incandescent Lamp Company, which in 1931 merged with the Novelty Incandescent Lamp Company (NILCO) and Sylvania Products Company of Pennsylvania to form the Hygrade Sylvania Company. In 1942, this became Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. This firm experienced significant growth during the 1940s and 1950s and new plants and sales offices were established throughout the country, among them the former Formatic Company factory in Naugatuck. In 1959, Sylvania Electric Products merged with the General Telephone Company to form GTE Sylvania. This firm continued to produce many of the technologies manufactured by Sylvania Electric Products, however its specialty increasingly became electrical distribution units such as transformers. GTE Sylvania retained its Naugatuck facility into the 1990s. In 1994 it was sold to the newly-formed Culox Technologies, Inc., which specializes in the production of pure and alloyed metal powders and particulates.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly five (5) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1940

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Formatic Company plant is comprised of roughly five primary adjoining and freestanding blocks located on the north side of General Pulaski Way, approximately 250’ east of General Pulaski Way’s intersection with Bridge Street. The most notable section of the plant consists of two adjoining, one-story Art Deco style blocks located at the southern end of the complex. These were built in 1944 and measure 42’ x 24’ and 130’ x 49’. The two blocks house office and manufacturing space, respectively, and form a T-shaped footprint. They have concrete foundations, red brick walls, large ribbon and wrap-around windows with concrete sills and lintels, red brick parapets with concrete coping, and flat roofs. The three-bay-wide office block is dominated by a projecting central pavilion that rises to a stepped red brick and concrete parapet. The primary entrance to the plant is centered on the façade and is set within a concrete surround topped by a flat metal awning. A wide, fluted concrete panel rises above the entry into the parapet of the central pavilion. A second one-story red brick manufacturing block adjoins the north elevation of the aforementioned factory block. This was built in 1944 and originally measured 150’ x 43’. Around 1965, the building was enlarged to roughly 162’ x 115’ through the addition of a similarly designed one-and-half-story block adjoining its north elevation. The resultant building has a concrete foundation, red brick walls, rectangular window openings with concrete sills and lintels, concrete coping, and a flat roof. Another one-story red brick block with a flat roof adjoins the east elevation of the ca. 1955 addition. This was erected as part of the original plant and measures 27’ x 65’. A modern one-story outbuilding measuring roughly 50’ x 67’ stands 40’ north of the main factory. This was erected ca. 1980.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. Although sections of the exterior walls are in need of cleaning and minor repairs, the mill appears to be structurally sound. The original windows in the plant’s main block have been replaced.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (178 General Pulaski Walk) totaling 1.13 acres located on the north side of Lenox Street, approximately 200’ north of Lenox Street’s intersection with Quinnipiac Avenue.

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 026/8910. / Link →

Acreage

1.13

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

11/05/2015

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. Map of New Haven County; Clark, Richard, 1859.
6. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
7. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
8. Sanborn Map Company, 1887, 1892, 1897, 1904, 1910, 1923, 1960.
9. Waterbury Directory; Various editions.
10. History of Naugatuck, Connecticut, 1948.
11. History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, 1918.
12. Hartford Courant, 1956, 1957.