Historic Mills of Connecticut

Use (Historic)

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Largest Documented Workforce

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Historic Narrative

For historical significance see National Register application: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/84003898.pdf The typewriter firms of Royal and Underwood Elliott Fisher both built large plants in Hartford in the early 20th century. Royal came in 1907, one year after its first shop opened in Brooklyn, NY, and six years after Underwood's arrival. Both firms cited the city's skilled labor pool as a primary attraction. Certainly this manufacture required skilled mechanics, toolmakers and machinists, but their importance far outweighed their numerical presence in the typewriter factories' workforces. Royal claimed in 1934 that only a third of the employees were 'skilled workmen.' These skilled workers did not make typewriters, but rather made special-purpose machinery for typewriter production, such as Royal's 39-spindle machine, which drilled, tapped and reamed all the holes in a typewriter frame in a single clamping of the piece. Since the recent demolition of The Underwood, formerly the city's largest typewriter plant, the Royal factory stands as Hartford's pre-eminent material remain of this industry. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

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Dates of Construction

1907 - 1920

Architect

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Builder

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Building Type

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Architectural Description

For description see National Register application: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/84003898.pdf The Royal factory consists of five parallel brick-pier wings, 4-story and 5-story, each about 240' long and ranging in width from 45' to 60'. The two eastern wings went up in 1907, and the others followed in 1917 and 1920. Overall the wings repeat the same exterior characteristics, with hip-roofed towers at the corners of the facades and crenelated battlements concealing near-flat roofs. Window treatments vary slightly among the wings, with some set in multi-story recessed panels and others simply set in the walls. The side windows of the 1920 wing, the furthest west, feature flat lintels with steel shelf angles, while segmental arches form the lintels in the other wings. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

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Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

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Power Source

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Condition

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Condition Notes

Demolished.

Specific Location

Just north of I-84.
Individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1984. Demolished.

Adjacent To

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 137/482/136 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

9.635

Use (Present)

n/a

Form Completed By

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Date

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Bibliography

1. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).
2. Gilchrist, Alison. 1984. Rova1 Typewriter Company Building National Register Nomination No. 84003898. National Park Service.