Mill Record Guilford

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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)
Guilford Enterprise Co.
Complex Name (Historic)
  • Guilford Enterprise Co.
Address or Location
66 High Street, Guilford
County
New Haven
Historic Designation
Associated Mill Community
n/a
Historic Information

Companies Associated w/Complex

  • Guilford Enterprise Co. 1884-ca. 1890
  • Guilford Finishing Co. ca. 1960s
  • Guilford Wheel & Mfg. Co. ca. 1891-1907
  • New Departure Co. ca. 1940s
  • New Haven Clock Co. ca. 1930s
  • Toy-Pop Candy Co. 1948-ca. 1960

Use (Historic)

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The Guilford Enterprise Company was organized in Guilford, Connecticut in 1879. The business was founded by Henry E. Norton, a native of Madison, Connecticut, and former traveling salesman and oil industry executive. The Guilford Enterprise Company specialized in the manufacture of ivory, wood, metal, composition, and rubber buttons, and Norton served as general manager, secretary, and treasurer of the firm. The company erected the red brick mill on High Street in Guilford in 1884, however the business failed by 1890. The High Street mill stood vacant until 1891, when it was occupied by the Guilford Wheel and Manufacturing Company. This firm was established by Charles E. Hill, Jerome C. Potter, and Lovell L. Kelsey, and succeeded the business founded in 1865 by Hull’s father, George A. Hull and Son, after the latter firm’s mill was destroyed by fire. The Guilford Wheel and Manufacturing Company produced wagon hulls, spokes, hubs, and wheels and remained in business until 1907, when it was sold to the Archibald Wheel Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts. During the late 1930s, the mill was briefly occupied by the New Haven Watch Company, which produced timing fuses for antiaircraft shells rather than timepieces in the Guilford plant. After the United States’ entry into the Second World War, the New Haven Watch Company leased the factory to the Bristol, Connecticut-based New Departure Manufacturing Company. New Departure used the plant for packing ball bearings that were to be shipped overseas. Wartime employment totaled 200 hands, most of these being women form Guilford and the neighboring towns. After the war, the mill was acquired by the Toy-Pop Candy Company of New York, New York, and by 1960 it was occupied by the Guilford Finishing Company, a manufacturer of drafting and reproduction media.

Architectural Information

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly five (5) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1884, ca. 1900, ca. 1940

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

Architectural Description

The former Guilford Enterprise Company plant consists of roughly five adjoining primary buildings located at the western terminus of High Street, south of High Street’s intersection with South Fair Street. The two oldest blocks associated with the mill were erected in 1884. These consist of a two-story, 70’ x 40’ red brick block at the northern end of the plant, and a two-story, 28’ x 28’ red brick ell adjoining the western end of the main block’s south (rear) elevation. The 1884 buildings have ashlar stone foundations, rectangular window openings with heavy stone sills and lintels, red brick cornices with red brick corbels and cornice returns, and low-pitch gable roofs. A one- and two-story red brick block was erected adjoining the south side of the 1884 mill in several phases around 1900. The completed footprint measures roughly 70’ x 70’ and it has a flat roof. A one-story, 60’ x 162’ concrete block Quonset hut erected ca. 1940 adjoins the south elevation of the ca. 1900 blocks. The Quonset hut has red brick apron walls, rectangular window openings, and a front-facing domed roof supported by heavy wood trusses. A one-story, 30’ x 72’ concrete block ell was erected adjoining the east elevations of the 1884 and ca. 1900 blocks around 1960. The ca. 1960 addition has rectangular window openings and a flat roof.

Exterior Material(s)

Structural System(s)

Roof Form

Roof Material

Power Source

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The plant is in fair condition, but is in the midst of rehabilitation and conversion for residential use. Two large manufacturing buildings formerly located on the west side of the plant were recently demolished.

Property Information

Specific Location

One 13.11-acre parcel (66 High St.) located at the western terminus of High Street, south of High Street’s intersection with South Fair Street.

Located in Guilford Town Center National Register District (1976)
http://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=f3f8ab2f-3bcc-4258-ab6a-552af2a5c960

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

Acreage

13.11

Use (Present)

Sources

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

04/28/2016

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. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1889, 1895, 1901, 1908, 1925, 1960.
  6. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1951, 1965, 1970, 1985.
  7. A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County; Hill, Everett Gleason, 1918.
  8. Raiche, Stephen J. 1976. Guilford Historic Town Center District National Register Nomination No. 76oo1988. National Park Service.
Representative View(s)Click on image to view full file



Photographer

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Photography Date

04/28/2016