Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• G.H. Bushnell Press Co. ca. 1887-1916
• Kelly-Fradet Lumber Co. 1965-Present (2015)
• New England Glass Burial Case Co. 1881-ca. 1887
• Standard Metal Work Co. 1916-1922
• Thompsonville Lumber Corp. ca. 1922-1965

Use (Historic)

• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Paper & Wood Products
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown

Historic Narrative

The earliest portion of the former G.H. Bushnell Press Company plant was originally erected for the New England Glass Burial Case company (incorporated as New England Burial Case Co. in 1883), a manufacturer of glass caskets, in 1881. Around 1887, the plant was purchased by George H. Bushnell, a native of Waitsfield, Vermont, who moved his firm, the G.H. Bushnell Press Company, from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Enfield at that time. The G.H. Bushnell Press Company produced a variety of presses and heavy machinery used in cloth baling and vegetable oil extraction. Once situated in Enfield, the company also began to manufacture machine products such as carpet looms, many of these purchased locally, among their customers being the Upson-Martin carpet mills. The G.H. Bushnell Press Company fell upon financial difficulties almost immediately and continued to struggle until 1894 when it was acquired by James A. Colvin, a native of Cranson, Rhode Island, who also operated foundries in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Danielson, Connecticut. Colvin righted press company’s ship and took on Bushnell’s son, Mark W. Bushnell, as the plant’s manager. In 1905, Colvin also established the Standard Metal Work Company, a pipe-bending firm that supplied parts to automobile manufacturers that was located directly north of the G.H. Bushnell Press Company plant. During the 1910s, the G.H. Bushnell Press Company likewise began manufacturing automobile-related products. After falling under the ownership of Mark W. and Guy W. Bushnell the Standard Metal Works Company acquired the G.H. Bushnell Press Company in 1916. The combined firm continued to focus on manufacturing products for the automobile industry, however, much of the plant’s early work was dominated by wartime production associated with World War I. Notable among these contracts was a $50,000 order from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation for shell cases needed for munitions being manufactured for the French government. The Standard Metal Works Company was sold to the Premier Manufacturing Company of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in 1922, and the Enfield plant was shut down. The property was subsequently acquired by the Thompsonville Lumber Corporation, which since 1903 had been controlled by William A . Fletcher, a Waterville, Vermont, native who also managed C.P. Chase and Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. Fletcher moved the lumberyard from High Street to Prospect Street in 1922, and the firm continued to operate at this location until it was bought out by the Kelly-Fradet Lumber Company of East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in 1965. Kelly-Fradet continues to occupy the property where it sells a variety of building and hardware products.

Number of Existing Buildings

Six (6) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1881, ca. 1910, late-20th c.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former G.H. Bushnell Press Company plant is comprised of six adjoining or freestanding primary blocks located on the west side of Prospect Street, opposite Oak Avenue. The earliest portions of the plant were erected in 1881 and consist of a pair of intersecting two-and-a-half-story red brick blocks, these measuring 80’ x 32’ and 31’ x 70’, respectively, and a freestanding one-and-a-half-story red brick block located directly to the south that measures 41’ x 101’. The former blocks originally housed machine shops and storage areas, while the freestanding building was used as a foundry. All of the buildings have segmental-arched window openings with brownstone sills, circular masonry anchors, corbelled brick cornices with cornice returns, and pitched roofs. The eave side of the primary machine shop building runs parallel to Prospect Street and is interrupted by a cross gable centered on its east elevation. The faded traces of a painted sign span the full length of the building, this formerly reading, “NEW ENGLAND GLASS BURIAL CASE CO.” A sign spanning the east gable end of the foundry reads, “IRON FOUNDRY.” The G.H. Bushnell Press Company plant was enlarged during the early 1910s, this including the addition of a two-and-a-half-story, 70’ x 42’ red brick machine shop at the northwest corner of the earlier machine shops, and a two-and-a-half-story, 58’ x 40’ wood shop erected to the west of the earlier buildings. These are of similar detailing to the plant’s original blocks and have likewise seen all of their original windows replaced or infilled. Storage areas have since been erected on the northern side of the machine shops, these completed during the second half of the 20th century.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block
• Wood

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof Form

• Gable
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The factory is in overall fair condition. Although sections of the earliest parts of the plant show some staining, deterioration, and extensive repointing along their exterior walls and are missing their original windows, the majority of the plant appears to be structurally sound and well maintained. A portion of the northern elevation of the foundry was replaced with concrete block after an addition was removed.

Specific Location

The southern half of one legal parcel (92 Prospect St.) totaling 2.5 acres on the west side of Prospect Street, opposite Oak Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 021/ / 0021 southern / Link →

Acreage

2.5

Use (Present)

• Commercial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

03/27/2015

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 Hartford County, H & C.T. Smith, 1855.
6. Atlas of Hartford County, Beers, Baker & Tilden, 1869.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1892, 1905, 1912, 1925, 1947.
8. Hartford Courant, 1881, 1883, 1901, 1909, 1916, 1930.
9. The Challenge of Change: Three Centuries of Enfield, Connecticut History; Bridge, Ruth, ed., 1977.
10. Enfield, Connecticut; Miller, Michael K., 1999.