Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Eyelet Specialty Co. 1954-mid-late-20th c.
• Fluoropolymer Resources, LLC Present (2015)
• Textron, Inc. 1948-1953

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products
• Rubber & Chemicals
• Textiles
• Other: Plastics

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

Textron, Inc. is a multi-billion dollar holding company that was originally founded in 1923 as the Specialty Yarns Corporation by 26-year old Royal Little of Wakefield, Massachusetts. The company initially manufactured synthetic yarns, however, during the late-1940s, Little expanded the firm and added the production of cloth and finished garments under the moniker of Textron, Inc. In 1948, the company erected a mill on Milk Street in Willimantic, Connecticut for the manufacture of nylon fabric. By the early 1950s, Little had grown weary with the limited profit margins to be had in the textile business and an appeal to amend the articles of association to allow investment in other industries was made to the company’s stockholders at the 1952 annual meeting. This was granted and the firm launched into a decade of buy-outs that included the acquisition of over 40 companies between 1953 and 1960 alone. Many of these transactions consisted of buying up failing textile mills throughout New England for the purpose of running them at a loss while reinvesting the associated tax gains into more profitable lines of manufacturing. The Willimantic branch of Textron, Inc. was closed in 1953. By 1954, the Milk Street plant had been acquired by the Eyelet Specialty Company of Waterbury, Connecticut, a manufacturer of metal lipstick cases and specialty eyelet products. The Waterbury firm was acquired by the International Silver Company in 1958. In 1973 International Silver deemed the division insignificantly profitable and the business was sold off. It is unclear exactly when work at the Milk Street branch was discontinued, however, it is currently occupied as a manufacturing, research and development, and warehousing space for Fluoropolymer Resources, LLC, a fluoropolymer processing firm based in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Number of Existing Buildings

Three (3) adjoining primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1948, 1965-1990.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Textron, Inc. plant is comprised of three adjoining blocks located on the east side of Milk Street, roughly 250’ south of Milk Street’s intersection with Moulton Court. The two original blocks were erected in 1948 and are of steel-frame construction with red brick walls. They consist of a one-and-a-half-story, 82’ x 240’ manufacturing block with frontage along Milk Street that comprises the northern two-thirds of the plant; and a one-story, 52’ x 87’ warehouse with a trapezoidal footprint that adjoins the eastern end of the manufacturing building’s south elevation. Both original blocks have rectangular window openings with concrete sills and a variety of replacement fenestration. The manufacturing building has a front-facing gable roof, while the roof of the warehouse ell is flat. A one-story, 60’ x 102’ concrete block shipping ell was erected on the south side of the manufacturing building and west side of the warehouse ell at some point between 1965 and 1990. This has two large, metal roll-up doors on its west (front) elevation facing Milk Street, and a third shipping bay with a roll-up style door on its south (side) elevation. The addition has a flat roof.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block

Structural System(s)

• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The majority of the original windows have been replaced in the original blocks, however, overall, the plant is well maintained and appears sound.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (85 Milk Street) totaling 0.7 acres located on the east side of Milk Street, roughly 250’ south of Milk Street’s intersection with Moulton Court.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 14-3/108/16. (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

0.7

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

08/13/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of Windham County; E.M. Woodford, 1855.
6. Atlas of Windham County; O.W. Gray, 1869.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1924, 1948.
8. Hartford Courant, 1957, 1973.
9. New York Times, 1989.
10. A History of Windham County, Connecticut; Bayles, Richard M., ed., 1889.
11. A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut; Lincoln, Allen B., 1920.