Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Norwalk Iron Works Co. c.1902-1918

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

350 (1900)

Historic Narrative

Norwalk Iron Works Co. was established in 1866 by a group of local investors headed by the same entrepreneurs who had founded the Norwalk Lock Co. ten years earlier. The 1866 firm built a plant on Water St. in South Norwalk and bought George Dwight's steam pump works, of Springfield, MA, to occupy it. Four years after operations began, Norwalk Iron Works produced 350 steam pumps and 98 steam engines in one year. Thirty-five men worked in the iron foundry; four men ran four small furnaces in the brass foundry in the same building. In 1870 the Iron Works employed 110 machinists and patternmakers. By the turn of the century the firm was producing air and gas compressors and no longer made steam engines or pumps. In 1900, the firm employed 350 men, and their wages comprised one-seventh of the manufacturing payroll in the town. Today the Norwalk Co., descended from the original firm, still manufactures air and gas compressors in the south building. The north complex houses industrial tenants. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

Six (6) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1866, 1880s, 1890s, 1900

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The iron foundry, a 1-story brick building (near-flat roof, 120' x 55') held two cupolas; the brass foundry, with four small furnaces, was in the same building. Machine and pattern shops were in the adjacent gable-roofed brick factory (3 1/2-story, 175' x 45'), which has a flatroofed stair tower centered on the long east wall, rubble foundations, and window openings with stone sills and projecting segmental-arch lintels. In the 1880s and 1890s two wings (1-story, 45' x 40'; 2-story, 108' x 35') and another foundry were erected (high 1-story, 190' x 52'). This foundry has large, round-arched window openings with pilasters between them. In 1900 a large brick-pier factory (2-story, 240' x 132') was built just south of the original plant. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

One 0.85 acre parcel on the NEC of North Water Street and the railroad

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 2/ 19/ 2/ 0 / Link →

Acreage

0.85

Use (Present)

• Mixed-Use
• Other: Museum

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).