Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Torin Corp. 1969-1982
• Torrington Mfg. Co. ca. 1905-1969

Use (Historic)

• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

401-500 (1945)

Historic Narrative

The Torrington Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1885 for the production of brass furniture nails. The firm was the first in the country to successfully manufacture and market this line of hardware and by the 1890s the company enjoyed considerable profitability. By the 1910s the Torrington Manufacturing Company had expanded its catalog to include products ranging from brass upholstery nails, novelties, and turnings, to metal working machinery such as spring coiling machines. This growth necessitated multiple expansions to its Franklin Street plant, which by 1915 extended west along Franklin Street from its intersection with Center Street, and south between the west branch of the Naugatuck River and Franklin Drive (then Treat Street). The Torrington Manufacturing Company continued to operate until 1969, whereupon the firm changed its name to the Torin Corporation. This move was largely made in an effort to reduce the confusion that for many years had arisen as a result of the similarity in titles between the Torrington Manufacturing Company and the unaffiliated Torrington Company, yet it was also hoped that it would give the firm a more modern patina. In the 1960s, the company also commissioned architect Marcel Breuer to design a number of modernist facilities. Four of these were in Torrington (see #2838 at 89 Commercial Boulevard, 1963, and #4067 at 200 Kennedy Drive, 1965). The renamed Torin Corporation continued to operate until 1982, at which time it was bought out by the White Plains, New York-based Clevepak Corporation, a specialty packaging and industrial products company. The latter firm operated the former Torin Corporation Air Impeller and machinery divisions into the mid-1980s, whereupon they and other plants affiliated with the Torin Corporation were sold off and eventually closed by various buyers. In 2010 the majority of the former Torrington Manufacturing Company was razed. The only surviving structures include the former office building at 70 Franklin Street, and the office buildings designed by Breuer. The Air Impeller Division plant to the south at 100 Franklin Drive (see HRI for Torrington Manufacturing Company, Air Impeller Division) was demolished in 2015. The office building has been repurposed for residential use.

Number of Existing Buildings

One (1) block.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1905

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration

Architectural Description

The former Torrington Manufacturing Company office is a two-story, red brick Colonial Revival style building erected to replace an earlier office located on the same site ca. 1905. The building has a roughly rectangular footprint and measures approximately 80’ x 34’ overall. It has a square-cut granite foundation and watertable, red brick walls and first-story belt course, granite cornice, brick parapet, granite coping, and a flat roof. The windows are set in rectangular openings framed with red bricks laid in soldier course and with square concrete tiles at their upper corners. The sills are square-cut granite. The entry is framed by a granite door surround with simple entablature. The words “THE TORRINGTON MFG. CO.” once graced the frieze over the entry, however, the metal lettering has been removed leaving only weathered staining. The original entry door and surround have been removed and replaced by an aluminum door with vinyl siding and glass infill above.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• EPDM

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The building is in fair condition. There is extensive staining of the exterior walls and the original windows have been replaced with vinyl units. The original entry has likewise been replaced with historically unsympathetic components.

Specific Location

One 0.16 acre parcel on the south side of Franklin Street west of Center Street and east of Main Street.

Adjacent To

• Business District

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 117/025/007 / Link →

Acreage

0.16

Use (Present)

• Residential

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

12/22/2014

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Atlas of Litchfield County, F.W. Beers & Co., 1874.
4. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
5. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
6. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1891, 1901, 1909, 1915, 1924, 1931, 1949.
7. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
8. The Hartford Courant, 1940, 1950, 1953, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1985.
9. The History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, 1918.
10. Torrington Register Souvenir Edition, 1897.
11. Torrington Historic Preservation Trust website.