Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Eastern Tinware Co. 1888-c.1900
• National Enameling and Stamping Co. c.1900-c.1920
• Pickering Governor Co. 1889-1905
• Portland Foundry Co. (division of Baird Machine as of 1924) c.1920-
• T. R. Pickering c.1880-1889
• United States Stamping Co. 1884-1888

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

Up until c.1920, this site was comprised of two distinct parcels with differing occupants. The eastern end was developed and occupied by T. R. Pickering and Co. by 1884, at which time there was a machine shop and separate foundry building, both surviving, as well as other outbuildings. The western end of the site was under construction for United States Stamping in 1884 with an ell-shaped press room, machine shop and store room, also surviving. T. R. Pickering, which made steam engine governors (devices to regulate the speed of engines), had been incorporated as Pickering Governor Co. by 1889, and occupied the site until c.1905, when it moved to a new facility located on what is now Pickering Street. Thereafter, the Briggs Co, and later the Portland Specialty Manufacturing Co., both of which made metal goods, occupied the site. United States Stamping was replaced by Eastern Tinware Co. in 1888, a company founded by Joseph Scheider, born in Bohemia in 1841. The company produced stamped and enameled tin kitchenware, decorative ware and ‘self-righting cuspidors,’ and employed Jews from Eastern Europe resulting in a small local Jewish community; some are interred in a small section east of the Swedish Lutheran Cemetery on William Street. The National Enameling and Stamping Company, a large conglomerate with headquarters in New York, and rolling mills, tinplate works, and stamping and enamel works in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, had taken over the site by 1901, producing tin ware, cooking utensils, oil cans and the like. The entire site was consolidated and occupied by Portland Foundry Co., a manufacturer of stoves and grey iron castings that originated in Portland, Maine, by 1921. Portland Foundry Co. became a division of Baird Machine Co. by 1924.

Number of Existing Buildings

Four blocks plus modern additions

Dates of Construction

pre-1884, 1884, c.1890, c.1920

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

n/a

Architectural Description

The entire complex has been sheathed in aluminum siding, however, the forms of the nineteenth century structures can be seen in aerial views, and brownstone foundation and brickwork can also be glimpsed in places.

Exterior Material(s)

• Aluminum Siding or Paneling
• Brick

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

• Gable

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

East end of Freestone Ave

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 20/179 / Link →

Acreage

6.37

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Renée Tribert

Date

September 2016

Bibliography

1. Sanborn Insurance Atlases.
2. Directory to the Iron and Steel Works of the US (15th edition), The American Iron and Steel Association: 1901.
3. Portland’s Jewish Cemetery, Doris Sherrow: March 2000 available at the Town of Portland website.