Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Elisha Palmer cotton rope c.1850-c.1875
• Inland Paper c.1924
• Palmer Brothers Company c.1875-1924

Use (Historic)

• Paper & Wood Products
• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown

Historic Narrative

The Palmer Brothers Company was established by two Civil War veteran brothers. The older sibling had spent the last eighteen months of the war at Libby Prison, and as a result, a large amount of back pay was due to him. The brothers used the money to establish a cotton dealing business in Washington, D.C., but soon after removed their operation to Montville, Connecticut, where their father Elisha Palmer owned a small mill that had been in operation since the 1790s (the fifth privilege of the Oxoboro River). Elisha Palmer produced cotton rope twine and batts. The brothers took over c.1875, and started modestly, recruiting local women to sew bedquilts for them for 25 cents per quilt. Quilt blankets, or “comfortables” as they were referred to, came to be the Palmer Brothers principle business. By the 1920s, the company had established several mills throughout Connecticut, and produced over 100,000 quilts per year. According to local fire insurance maps, the Palmer Brothers, while remaining active in their Fitchville Mill, closed the Montville operation before 1924. After the departure of the Palmer Brothers, the large brick building was utilized by a company called Inland Paper.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly seven (7) blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1866 - c.1924

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

n/a

Architectural Description

The complex may have transitioned directly from water power to electricity, as there are no indications of a boiler house. A rail spur entered the complex from the southwest. There are three major building sections in this complex; a c.1866 long, narrow single-story granite building with gambrel roof parallel to Oakdale Road to the east; several connected buildings across the raceway, including an office and three single-story stone structures with hip roofs and the southernmost two-story stone structure with gable roof, all built before 1900. Further to the west is a brick building composed of four separate two- and three-story sections, separated by protruding firewalls, and with gable roofs built prior to 1924. (Roth): A 2 1/2-story structure, 230' x 40', it has coursed granite walls, central stair tower and a gambrel roof; dormers have been removed. This mill stands on the river's east bank, directly across the stream from three smaller stone-walled buildings, including the wheelhouse and picker house. West of these is a 3-story, brick-pier mill with segmental-arch lintels and stone sills. Just upstream on the east bank stands a barn-like, 3 1/2-story, frame building. There are at least six mill-related dwellings: one 2 1/2-story, gable-roofed frame duplex; four 1 1/2-story, single-family frame houses; and one large 2-story house with first-floor walls of coursed granite and clapboarded walls above.

Exterior Material(s)

n/a

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

n/a

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

• Water (Turbine)

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

Two parcels (284 Route 163 and 14 Bridge Street) totaling 2.91 acres at the SWC of Bridge Street and Oakdale Road. Oxoboxo Brook runs southeast through the complex from a mill pond to the northwest. The 2-story brick mill building is at 14 Bridge St; the one-story stone mill building at 284 Rte 163.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)
• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 082/ 077/ 000 (284 rte 163) (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →
• 082/ 079/ 000 (14 Bridge St) (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

1.84; 1.07

Use (Present)

• Other:
• Vacant

Form Completed By

Michael Forino

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. 1947 Industrial Directory of Connecticut.
2. Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases, 1924.
3. The Hartford Courant, 1930 - 1948.
4. Henry A. Baker, A History of Montville (1896).
5. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).