Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Anemostat Corp. ca. 1940s
• New Departure Co. 1913-1932
• United Tool & Die Co. late-20th c.
• Whitlock Coil Pipe Co. 1892-1913

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

1100 (1929).

Historic Narrative

The New Departure Manufacturing Company was established by brothers Albert F. and Edward D. Rockwell in Bristol, Connecticut, in 1888. The company was organized in order to manufacture a new design of doorbell patented by Albert, however, during the 1890s, the Rockwell brothers were quick to capitalize on the popularity of the bicycle and soon expanded their catalog to include a variety of bicycle accessories. These included bicycle bells, lamps, and eventually, a coaster brake. By the late 1890s, the New Departure Company was producing upwards of 20,000 bells and 5,400 coaster brakes per day. The development of New Departure’s coaster brake was particularly significant as it depended upon steel bearings for its smooth operation. As the bicycle fad was replaced by that of the automobile New Departure was well situated to benefit from the latter machine’s dependence on a variety of metal bearings. After manufacturing its first spherical metal bearing in 1906, the firm soon became one of the most prominent producers of ball bearings in the world. The company built several manufacturing facilities in Bristol during the 1910s, and looked to other Connecticut towns for additional factory locations. In 1913 the company purchased land and several buildings from the Whitlock Coil Pipe Company on South Street in West Hartford and soon established a substantial operation in that town. New Departure’s West Hartford branch was initially set up to produce ball bearing shaft hangers, however, the manufacture of ball bearings was under way by the summer of 1913. By 1914, led by plant manager Charles M. Gearing, the factory was turning out roughly 5,000 bearings of various sizes per day. By 1919, the West Hartford mill had been significantly enlarged and the firm’s 600 employees manufactured upwards of 12,000 bearings per day. Further expansions completed by 1929 brought employment to over 1,100 hands capable of producing 47,000 bearings in 70 sizes per day. In order to house this workforce, in 1919 New Departure had purchased a substantial plot of land located on the south side of New Britain Avenue between the rail line and Newington Road and after dividing it into 111 parcels offered it to employees at reduced rates. By the early 1930s all but one of these plots had been developed. Operations at New Departure’s West Hartford plant peaked during the late 1920s and the branch was closed in 1932. Since New Departure vacated the complex it has subsequently been occupied by a variety of industrial and commercial tenants including the Anemostat Corporation, a Delaware firm that manufactured air distribution and ventilation systems, and the United Tool and Die Company, a West Hartford-based sheet metal fabricator.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly twenty (20) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1892, ca. 1900, 1919, ca. 1925, 1950-1965.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The New Departure Manufacturing Company’s former West Hartford plant is comprised of roughly 20 adjoining and freestanding blocks located on the south side of New Britain Avenue, west side of South Street, and east side of Carney Road. The oldest portion of the plant consists of four adjoining red brick blocks located at the southwest corner of the complex. These were originally erected in 1892 for the Whitlock Coil Pipe Company, yet were acquired by New Departure in 1913. The buildings consist of a central two-story, 40’ x 52’ red brick block with a front-facing gable roof that is flanked to the north and south by one-story cross-gable wings measuring roughly 80’ x 40’ each, and a one-story, 38’ x 24’ red brick block with a front-facing roof that adjoins the central block’s east elevation. All of the blocks have segmental-arched window openings with stone sills and denticulated brick corniced with cornice returns. Four additional red brick blocks acquired by New Departure in 1913 were likewise built by the Whitlock Coil Pipe Company. Three of these are located north of the 1892 buildings and were erected ca. 1900. They include a two-story, 50’ x 200’ red brick manufacturing block and a two-story, 220’ x 50’ manufacturing block that intersect forming a T-shaped footprint; and a two-story, 48’ x 50’ red brick office block that fronts on Carney Road. The three blocks share similar details including brick pier construction with recessed full-height window bays topped by corbelled brick headers, segmental-arched window openings with double-coursed brick sills, brick parapets topped by tile coping, and flat roofs. The fourth block consists of a two-story, 38’ x 45’ red brick electrical room with a front-facing gable roof that stands to the southeast of the 1892 buildings. Significant additions to the plant were completed between 1919 and 1929. A 50’ x 138’ red brick block erected on the east (rear) side of the office adjoined that building with the larger of the two ca. 1900 manufacturing blocks in 1919, and a new three-story, 68’ x 224’ reinforced concrete factory building was built at the northern end of the plant that same year. The former is notable for a large sawtooth monitor that extends along the roof, while the reinforced concrete structure has brick curtain walls and a 6’-tall clerestory monitor running the length of the building. Further one- and two-story red brick additions were built throughout the plant through the 1920s, many linking or enlarging older blocks. Among the most recent additions is a one-story, 140’ x 48’ steel-frame and red brick storage building erected adjoining the east elevation of the electrical room between 1950 and 1965.

Exterior Material(s)

• Aluminum Siding or Paneling
• Brick
• Concrete

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Concrete
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Gable
• Monitor
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM
• Metal
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. A number of the exterior walls are in need of cleaning or minor repairs and many of the original windows have been replaced with modern units. The exterior of the reinforced concrete block has been sheathed with modern metal paneling.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (1031 New Britain Avenue) totaling 2.3 acres located on the south side of of New Britain Avenue, west side of South Street, and east side of Carney Road.

Adjacent To

• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• G15/3771/1031. / Link →

Acreage

2.3

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Industrial
• Other: 10/2020 purchased for conversion to storage facility
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas Karmazinas

Date

8/17/2015

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. Atlas of Hartford City and West Hartford Town, Connecticut; L.J. Richards & Co., 1896.
6. Atlas of Hartford City and West Hartford Town, Connecticut; L.J. Richards & Co., 1909.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1917, 1923, 1950.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. The Hartford Courant, 1913, 1919.
10. West Hartford; Hall, William H., 1930.