Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Hopson & Chapin Mfg. Co. ca. 1885-1914
• The Minor & Alexander Lumber Co. Inc. 1939-2006
• The Raymond & Alexander Lumber Co. Inc. 1914-1939

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Paper & Wood Products

Largest Documented Workforce

100 (ca. 1900)

Historic Narrative

The Hopson and Chapin Manufacturing Company relocated from Wethersfield, Connecticut to New London in 1885. The firm was originally established by John Hopson as the Hopson and Brainard Manufacturing Company, yet was reorganized in 1883 after Charles W. Chapin joined the business. The company produced a variety of cast iron boilers and radiators and its New London shop was located on the south side of Hamilton Street, formerly the site of one of several plants operated by the Brown Cotton Gin Company. Hopson served as the firm’s president and treasurer and Chapin served as secretary. William T. Hopson, John Hopson’s son, was the mill’s superintendant yet eventually rose to the role of president. Often also identified as the Pequot Foundry and Machine Works, Hopson and Chapin produced both steam and hot water heating systems. Perhaps the most notable was the ‘Pequot Boiler,’ which a company catalog from 1893 identifies as a small-to-medium-sized magazine-feed boiler capable of heating 400, 600, 800, or 1,100 square feet depending on the model selected. Other products available at that time included the ‘Hopson Boiler,’ the ‘Monogram Boiler,’ a line of ‘Connecticut’ brand direct radiators, as well as various indirect and compound radiators and hot water expansion tanks. Hopson and Chapin maintained both local and regional clients and was selected to provide the heating systems for the first buildings erected on the campus of the Connecticut College for Woman, presently Connecticut College. Hopson and Chapin employed upwards of 100 hands during peak operating periods and continued to manufacture heating equipment on Hamilton Street until 1914. At that point the company relocated to State Street and the vacated plant was acquired by the newly-formed Raymond and Alexander Lumber Company, which around the same time also infilled a portion of Shaw Cove north of Hamilton Street in order to construct a variety of office and storage buildings. The former Hopson and Chapin foundry was used for storage, while the office building housed a repair shop and yard office. The Raymond and Alexander Lumber Company was reorganized as the Minor and Alexander Lumber Company in 1939. This firm remained in business until 2006, whereupon the company identified competition from encroaching big box stores as the reasoning for its closure.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly two (2) freestanding buildings.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1885

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Hopson and Chapin Manufacturing Company plant is comprised of two primary freestanding buildings located on the south side of Hamilton Street directly west of its terminus along the rail line. Additional blocks associated with the factory were formerly located directly south of the foundry, however, these were removed during the mid-20th century. A two-and-a-half-story frame building located on the south side of the parcel was built ca. 1920 as a machine shop for the D.E. Whiton Machine Company, which maintained a large plant to the south along Howard Avenue (since demolished). A one-story concrete block and wood-frame building on the west side of the parcel was erected ca. 1950 for a beverage bottling company. The two surviving blocks associated with the Hopson and Chapin Manufacturing Company include a one-and-a-half-story foundry and a two-story office building. The former has red brick walls faced with stucco and measures roughly 100’ x 72’ overall. The building was originally approximately twice as long as at present, however, its eastern half was removed during the mid-20th century. The building has a round-ached roof that appears to extend as shed roofs over the one-story north and south (front and rear) elevations, and flattens out below a clerestory monitor running the length of the structure’s ridgeline. The building has segmental-arched door and window openings, the later in some cases retaining original twelve-over-twelve or eight-over-twelve double-hung wood windows. The clerestory monitor has largely been sheathed with asphalt shingles (these with a fax-brick finish), however, several of the original six-pane sash remain. The monitor has a side-gabled roof. The office stands roughly 15’ east of the foundry. It is likewise of red brick construction faced with stucco. The building measures 50’ x 36’ and there is a one-story, 16’ x 8’ enclosed entry porch on its north (front) elevation. The façade shows rectangular window openings (these originally with splayed brick lintels), while those on the sides are set below segmental arches. Surviving fenestration consists of six-over-six double-hung wood sash. A simple denticulated cornice runs along the façade of the building’s parapet. This is flat across the façade yet stepped on the side elevations. The flat roof pitches to the south (rear).

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Stucco

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Monitor
• Round
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair to deteriorated condition. Most of the exterior walls of the office are in serious need of repair and many of the windows in both buildings are damaged or have been removed and the openings boarded up.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (77 Hamilton Street) totaling 1.76-acres located on the south side of Hamilton Street directly west of its terminus along the rail line.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• F15/107/3 / Link →

Acreage

1.76

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

07/02/2015

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 London County; Baker, William A., 1854.
6. Atlas of New London County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1891, 1896, 1901, 1907, 1912, 1921, 1951, 1954.
8. Picturesque New London; The American Book Exchange, 1901.
9. The Whaling City; Decker, Robert Owen, 1976.