Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• New Britain Machine Co. 1918-1990

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Rubber & Chemicals
• Transportation
• Other: Plastics

Largest Documented Workforce

Specific Plant Unknown (Compan

Historic Narrative

The origins of the New Britain Machine Company date to 1887 and the establishment of the J.T. Case Engine Company. The firm was created to manufacture a steam engine designed by Joel T. Case of Bristol, Connecticut, and soon acquired a factory on Chestnut Street in New Britain that had formerly been occupied by the Bank Lock and Kempshall Manufacturing Companies. The J.T. Case Engine Company was led by Philip Corbin, president; F.G. Platt, treasurer; M.C. Swift, treasurer; and Joel T. Case, superintendent. By 1889, the company boasted $300,000 in capital and was in full production at its Chestnut Street plant. In 1895, the directors of the J.T. Case Engine Company purchased the patent for a saw mortising machine designed by a firm located in Dubuque, Iowa for $100,000. Shortly after announcing this move, the firm merged with the former holder of the patent, the Dubuque Specialty Machine Company, to form the New Britain Machine Company. A new slate of officers were elected, including Philip Corbin, president; M.C. Swift, vice-president; F.G. Platt, treasurer; and Robert S. Brown, treasurer, and additional land was purchased in order to expand the New Britain factory. By the turn of the 20th century, the New Britain Machine Company was advertised in local directories as a manufacturer of steam engines and wood working machines, and offered a variety of services ranging from engineering and blueprint design, to the production of metal castings, forgings, and machine work. During the 1910s, the New Britain Machine Company began producing several lines of sockets, wrenches, and other hand tools. Many of these were manufactured with carbon steel, which was less expensive than the alloy steel products being sold by competitors such as the Stanley Works. In 1917, the company registered the None Better trademark, under which it branded and advertised its proprietary products. The diverse capabilities of the New Britain Machine Company caught the attention of the U.S. Government at the outbreak of the First World War and the substantial contracts awarded to the firm during the conflict eventually required that it devote 100 per cent of its capacity towards these efforts. The array of materiel produced by the firm ranged from machine gun tripods to time fuses and shell heads to gun sights, as well as included all of the anti-aircraft gun mounts manufactured for the U.S. military during the war. The demands on the company was such that it necessitated construction of a second plant along the southern outskirts of town, some of the only suitable land available at the time. The New Britain Machine Company continued to thrive after war and in 1929 merged with the Gridley Machine Company in an effort to diversify and expand its machine tool lines, a specialty of the latter firm. The skills Gridley’s engineers brought to the New Britain Machine Company were critical following the outbreak of the Second World War, at which time the company secured a lucrative contract to machine aircraft parts for the U.S. Government. The company expanded its workforce from peacetime level of around 950 to a peak of 4100 employees at the war’s height, as well as added numerous new buildings to its South Street plant, where it consolidated all operations in 1943. Following the conclusion of World War II, the New Britain Machine Company returned to the production of an array of products including hand and mechanics’ tools, shop and office furniture, and precision machine tools. The company continued to operate independently until 1972, when it merged with Litton Industries, a California-based conglomerate. Litton maintained the New Britain Machine Company as a branch division until 1990, when the plant was closed. Largely vacant until 2000, the complex has since been redeveloped and occupied by a mix of small- and medium-sized industrial firms.

Number of Existing Buildings

Over two dozen primary and secondary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1918, 1940, 1942, ca. 1954, ca. 1954-1965, ca. 1965-1990.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The New Britain Machine Company complex is comprised of over two dozen primary and secondary buildings spread across three associated properties on the south side of South Street. The majority of the blocks are located in a cluster measuring roughly 740’ x 950’ overall. This stands some 620’ south of South Street and directly northeast of CT Route 9. A freestanding office building is sited approximately 35’ west of the main plant, while a freestanding boiler house is located 78’ to the south. A second, smaller complex of some six blocks is located along South Street roughly 760’ feet northeast of the primary factory. The majority of the New Britain Machine Company plant was erected between 1918 and 1954, with most of the constructed taking place during the Second World War. It is somewhat difficult to parcel out the individual buildings comprising the complex, however, several notable blocks can be delineated. The earliest structure, this erected in 1918, is a two-story building with a 10’-high clerestory monitor located in the southern half of the plant. The block measured 114’ x 300’ at the time of its construction, but as a result of several expansion projects during the 1940s eventually reached a total length of 825’. The building is of steel frame and brick curtain wall construction and has a pitched roof running the length of its clerestory monitor. Additional one-story manufacturing buildings were erected to the north and south of the 1918 block throughout the 1940s and early-1950s. The majority are of steel frame construction and have brick or concrete block curtain walls. Most have flat roofs, many of which are pierced by clerestory monitors with steel sash and large windows. Similar details characterize the building erected 760’ northeast of the plant along South Street. This was built in two phases, in 1942 and 1952, and was used for manufacturing purposes by the New Britain Machine Company. Two blocks constructed at the southeast corner of the plant ca. 1965 are of steel frame construction and have vertical metal siding and low-pitch gable roofs. Two of the most notable structures associated with the New Britain Machine Company complex are the office and boiler plant, these built in 1942 and ca. 1965, respectively. The two-story office building is a subdued blend of the Colonial Revival and International styles and is comprised of a central bay flanked by two symmetrical wings. The building measures 290’ x 65’ overall. It has a concrete frame, red brick curtain walls, large ribbon windows with concrete sills and lintels and metal sash, a concrete cornice and flat roof. A flat-roofed entry porch shelters the primary entrance, this centered in the central bay. The Miesian styling of the boiler plant is dramatically different from both the office building and the remainder of the utilitarian manufacturing plant. The flat-roofed building is of steel frame construction and has curtain walls of large metal and glass panels, the former painted a bright sky blue.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Glass
• Steel

Structural System(s)

• Structural Concrete
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Metal
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The buildings associated with the factory complex range from good to fair condition. The former office and boiler house buildings are in good condition, while the factory structures are generally in fair condition. Some areas of the plant show limited signs of wall and window deterioration.

Specific Location

The complex is presently comprised of three legal parcels (221 and 315 South Street, New Britain; and 0 New Britain Road, Berlin) totaling 62.1 acres located on the south side of South Street, and north of CT Route 9.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 3-2/ 75A/ 1/ / / Link →
• B10C/ 100/ / / / Link →
• B10D/ 1/ / / / Link →

Acreage

62.1

Use (Present)

• Industrial
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

02/12/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Map of Hartford County, H & C.T. Smith, 1855.
4. Atlas of Hartford County, Beers, Baker & Tilden, 1869.
5. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
6. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1890, 1895, 1909, 1950, 1954.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Birdseye View of New Britain, 1875.
10. New Britain City Directory, 1860-1960.
11. Hartford Courant, 1895, 1912, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1929, 1940, 1942, 1945, 1986, 2000.
12. History of New Britain, With Sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Camp, David, N., 1889.