Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Belding-Heminway Silk Company 1925-1931
• H. K. H. Silk Company 1917
• M. Heminway and Sons 1849-1917
• Princeton Knitting Mills Inc. 1931-1962

Use (Historic)

• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

In 1838, General Merritt Heminway of Watertown began experimenting with sericulture: growing mulberry trees and silk worms. Heminway processed his silk filament into a usable spooled thread at a small winding mill in Watertown. Like all New England silk growers, Heminway’s operations were crippled by a severe mulberry tree blight in the 1840s. But Heminway survived the blight and went on to establish M. Heminway and Sons in 1849 (incorporated in 1868) – one of the earliest silk companies in the country. After a merger with Hammond-Knowlton Co., New London Wash Silk Co. and Eureka Silk Manufacturing Co., the company was re-incorporated in 1917 as the H.K.H. Silk Company. In addition to the mill in Watertown, the new company had operations in Putnam, Woodbury, New London, and Haverstraw, New York. In 1924, the firm again changed its name to the Heminway Silk Company, to honor the man who had started it all. By that time, the product line had expanded to include silk and artificial thread, seamless hosiery and other fabrics. In 1925, the company merged with the Belding and Bros. Co. of New York and Connecticut, founded in 1863. The new company, the Belding-Heminway Silk Company, had combined annual sales of nearly $20,000,000 in 1925.

Number of Existing Buildings

Six (6) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1920-1940

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Loft
• Mill
• Powerhouse

Architectural Description

The complex is bordered to the west by the channelized Steele’s Brook. All of the buildings are brick. The western four-story block dates to c.1920 and connects to the east to a series of three to four story buildings that appear to have been built in the 1930s or 1940s. The original smokestack stands at the southern side of the complex, although the boiler house itself has since been demolished. Many of the windows have been replaced, but overall the building is in very good shape.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Post and Beam

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

All portions of the building are in generally good condition.

Specific Location

One 9.08 acre parcel on Echo Lake Road, just south of Heminway Pond and Porter Street. It is bordered to the west by a canal that runs along the length of the factory and empties into Steele’s Brook to the South. (formerly 118 Echo Lake Road)

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 110 / 78B / 32 / Link →

Acreage

9.08

Use (Present)

• Mixed-Use
• Other: Siemon Business Park/The Princeton Center: offices, yoga/gym, health care, light industrial

Form Completed By

Mike Forino

Date

August 2014

Bibliography

1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
2. The Hartford Courant, 1913-1964.
3. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1927.