Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Swift & Co. c.1910-1960

Use (Historic)

• Food, Beverage, Tobacco

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

Swift and Company was a meatpacking and distribution enterprise founded by Gustavus Swift (1839-1903). He first started a butchering business in Massachusetts in 1855, became a partner in Hathaway and Swift in 1872, and by 1875 had moved to Chicago where the Union Stock Yards were the center of the American meatpacking industry. The firm was incorporated as Swift and Company in 1885. While the company specialized in meat products, they also sold and branded a variety of dairy and grocery goods, most notably Peter Pan Peanut Butter, which was introduced in the 1920s and is still distributed today. Swift is also credited with developing in 1878 and championing an effective refrigerated rail car for shipping meat across the country. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Swift built one of the most expansive networks of distributorships in the country. The former Swift and Company beef house on Swift Street in Waterbury is just one example of the hundreds of beef houses built in nearly every major city in the United States during this period. These buildings served not only as facilities to receive, butcher, and process meats and dairy products, but also as wholesale dealers to the public, selling less desirable scraps from butchery such as kidneys, tongues, brains, hearts, and sausage. The Waterbury beef house was strategically located near the railroad tracks, as well as the produce and meat distribution centers on Freight Street.

Number of Existing Buildings

Two (2) blocks with addition.

Dates of Construction

c.1910, c.1960

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Swift and Company beef house on Swift Place is a brick building built in c.1910-1920, with a c.1960 addition. The oldest block at the eastern end is a three-story, brick building with a flat roof. To the northeast is a single-story block, approximately 150' by 80'. On the western end is the addition: a single-story brick building measuring approximately 130' by 50'.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

Two parcels totaling 0.76 acre at NEC of Swift Place and Sperry Street east of railroad

Adjacent To

• Business District
• Main Roads
• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 0252-0060-0011 newer / Link →
• 0252-0060-0012 / Link →

Acreage

0.47; 0.29

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Michael Forino

Date

08/20/2015

Bibliography

1. Hartford Courant.
2. Chandler, Alfred, D., The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business (Belknap Harvard, 1977).
3. Kelley, Etna M. The Business Founding Date Directory. Scarsdale, N.Y.: Morgan & Morgan, 1954.
4. Swift Company Reports, c. 1900.