Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• J.B. Williams and Co. 1885-c.1960
• James B. Williams c.1875-1885

Use (Historic)

• Rubber & Chemicals

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

James B. Williams started making 'Williams Genuine Yankee Soap' in the late 1830s as an adjunct to his pharmacy business in Manchester. A decade later Williams' father-in-law gave him a mill site in Glastonbury, north of Williams St. on Hubbard Brook, and Williams began his soap manufacturing company there. He also made ink, blacking, and toiletries. The primary use for water power was to run presses that formed the bulk soap into cakes. South of Williams St. was a bark mill that Williams' father-in-law had used in his tannery business; this mill was rented by Williams' son, David W., in 1880 to manufacture laundry and mill soaps. In 1885 the two firms merged and incorporated as J. B. Williams Co. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

n/a

Dates of Construction

c.1880, 1897, 1902, 1906, 1911

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

n/a

Architectural Description

A fire in 1890 destroyed much of the plant south of the street; most of the brick complex that stands there now was built in the next two decades. The buildings north of the street were condemned and demolished in 1977, except for a c.1880 2 1/2-story frame building, 80' x 25' with gable roof, vertical-board siding and brick foundations. The earliest building south of the street is an 1897 brick-pier 4-story factory, 180' x 51' with near flat roof and central stair tower with pyramidal roof. Windows are segmentally arched with stone sills. Except for the tower, the architecture of this mill is duplicated in the factories built in 1906 (4-story, 163' x 50' with a 4-story ell, 30' x 50') and 1911 (4-story, 82' x 51'). The 1902 office is an elaborate 3-story Georgian Revival brick building now occupied by the Glastonbury Board of Education. The only remnants of the water power system are the c. 1880 masonry dam and the empty pond behind it. The 1904 brick power house, 109' x 42', and yellow-brick stack remain from the company's era of steam. There are four workers' houses on Williams St.: two c.1875 ell shaped, frame houses with gable roofs and two 1924 frame, hip-roofed houses. On Hubbard St. stands a 2-story, gable-roofed duplex that housed supervisory personnel. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Post and Beam

Roof Form

n/a

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

east side of Williams Street East along Williams Pond, west of New London Turnpike

Located in J.B. Williams Co. National Register Historic District (1983)
http://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=ae16f212-7552-4bde-997e-427181286296

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 11340 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

17.03

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Other: Georgian Revival office building was rehabbed in 2018 as offices for Interpreters and Translators Inc.
• Residential

Form Completed By

n/a

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).
2. Ransom, David F. 1983. Williams, J. B., Co. Historic District National Register Nomination No. 83001268. National Park Service.