Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Entoleter, LLC late 20th c.-Present (2016)
• The Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corp. 1942-1970

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The origins of the Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation date to 1906 and the organization of the Snow and Petrelli Manufacturing Company. This firm was established in New Haven, Connecticut by Levi T. Snow and Joseph Petrelli and it specialized in the manufacture of reversing gears for four-cycle boat motors, as well as other special machinery and hardware. One of the company’s most notable and successful projects was a reversing gear known as ‘Joes Duplex Drive Gear,’ or ‘Joes Gears,’ which was developed in 1912 yet remained in production after various refinements through the 1940s. Joseph Petrelli remained with the firm until 1916, whereupon he took over as manager of New Haven’s Navy Gear Manufacturing Company. The title of the Snow and Petrelli Manufacturing Company remained intact however, regardless of the fact that Petrelli’s role as secretary and sales manager of the firm was assumed by Arthur T. Nabstedt, a university-trained engineer, upon his departure. The Snow and Petrelli Manufacturing Company initially occupied rental quarters on Chapel Street and then moved to Brewery Street before erecting a dedicated two-story red brick plant on Fox Street in New Haven in 1929. The firm maintained this facility until 1942 when the business was reorganized as the Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation and a new, larger plant was erected on Welton Street in neighboring Hamden. The expansion of the Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation’s business was largely driven by the outbreak of the Second World War and the rush of orders from the navies of the United States and its Allies that followed. The company supplied marine transmissions for a variety of military craft including minesweepers, landing craft, and the infamous P.T. Boats. The wartime work of the Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation earned the firm several Navy ‘E’ awards during the conflict and drove demand for the company’s products after the war’s conclusion. The Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation continued to operate in Hamden until 1970, whereupon the firm relocated to New Hampshire. The Welton Street plant has since been occupied by Entoleter, LLC, a manufacturer of impact milling, mixing, and air pollution control machinery and devices.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly six (6) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1942

Architect

Leo F. Caproni

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Snow-Nabstedt Gear Corporation plant is comprised of roughly six adjoining and freestanding primary blocks located on the east side of Welton Street, opposite Welton Street’s intersection with Atlas Street. All of the buildings were erected in or around 1942 and are of red brick construction. The most prominent block is a one-story, 150’ x 46’ Modern-style office building located on the western side of the complex facing Weston Street. The office has a concrete foundation, red brick walls, rectangular window openings with concrete sills, metal-framed windows with awning-style sash, concrete coping, and a flat roof. A projecting pavilion faced with concrete and with a tall concrete parapet is offset just south of center on the façade. This contains the primary entrance to the plant, which consists of an offset metal and glass door flanked by glass sidelights and with a glass transom above. The exterior of the pavilion bears a wide fluted pattern that rises to a wave-like detail running along the parapet. A round concrete Mo-Sai plaque is embossed in the concrete above the entry; this consists of the bust of a bearded mariner wearing what appears to be a rubber jacket and rain hat. The facility’s main manufacturing block adjoins the office’s east elevation. The former is a one-story, 126’ x 318’ red brick block with a concrete foundation, red brick walls, rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multipane metal sash with pivot-style openings, concrete coping, and a flat roof with eight sawtooth monitors. Three red brick accessory blocks adjoin the south and west elevations of the main manufacturing building. These measure 36’ x 215’, 93’ x 45’, and 52’ x 38’, respectively, and all have concrete foundations, red brick walls, rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multipane metal sash with pivot-style openings, concrete coping, and a flat roofs. A three-story steel-frame tower with fiberglass panel sheathing and a side-gabled roof rises from the accessory block adjoining the south elevation of the main manufacturing building. This was erected ca. 1970. The final block associated with the plant is a one-story guardhouse that stands roughly 60’ south of the office building. This measures roughly 8’ x 8’ and has a concrete foundation, red brick walls, rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multipane metal sash, a plain wood cornice, and a flat roof. The only entrance to the building is a wood- and glass-paneled pass-through door on the west elevation.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Other: Mo-Sai panels from Dextone Corp. in New Haven.

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. Although the windows in the office have been replaced, the entirety of the plant appears to be well maintained.

Specific Location

One 5.98-acre parcel (251 Welton Street) located on the east side of Welton Street, opposite Welton Street’s intersection with Atlas Street.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 2031/ 025 / Link →

Acreage

5.98

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

01/13/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Map of New Haven County, H & C.T. Smith, 1856.
4. Atlas of New Haven County, Beers, Ellis & Soule, 1868.
5. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
6. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
7. Sanborn Map Company, 1923, 1951.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1951, 1965, 1970, 1985.
9. New Haven City Directory, Various dates.
10. Hartford Courant, 1942, 1943, 1972.
11. Motor Boat Magazine, 1929.
12. A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, Clark, S.J., 1918.
13. Hamden; Hamden Historical Society, 2004.
14. Information, historic photographs and sources for Leo Caproni courtesy Gregg Bateman (2018).
15. Caproni, Leo F., ‘Industrial Buildings’ (1942 booklet)