Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Brunswick Sports Products Co., Union Hardware Co. Div. 1960-1996
• FM Precision Golf Manufacturing Corp. 1996-1997
• Royal Precision, Inc. 1997-2006
• Union Hardware Co. 1865-1960

Use (Historic)

• Apparel & Accessories
• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Fabricated Metal Products

Largest Documented Workforce

900 (1930)

Historic Narrative

The Union Hardware Company was established in 1854 for the production of ice skates. The firm was initially organized by Torrington industrialist Achille F. Migeon with $12,000 in capital, and occupied an old lock shop along the Naugatuck River in Torrington Hollow. Around 1865 it relocated to a site on Migeon Avenue, where it would remain for the rest of its history. Roller skates were added to the firm’s catalog around 1876, these supplemented with a assortment of iron, leather and wooden goods by the turn of the century. Among the latter were various models of steel and bamboo fishing rods, fishing reels, gun accessories, hack saw frames, screwdrivers, chisels, tool handles, and other wooden goods. The company continued to diversify during the early decades of the twentieth century, adding nail clippers, steel golf club shafts, and police goods, such as handcuffs, by the 1930s. The initial plant erected along Migeon Avenue by the Union Hardware Company was comprised of a mix of brick and frame structures between one and three stories in height. These were incrementally removed and replaced during the late-19th and early-20th century, with the oldest existing building being the western half of the 1896 skate department and machine shop, a one-story red brick factory building with clerestory monitor roof located along the northern boundary of the plant. This was enlarged ca. 1905, a period that saw numerous additions to the plant. The latter included construction of a new office building, machine ship, forge shop, boiler house, and various shipping and storage buildings. The Union Hardware Company continued to expand its influence during the 1910s and 1920s, acquiring the Tower and Lyon Company of New York in 1911, the T.H. Wood Company of South Coventry, Connecticut in 1922, and the Chapin-Stephens Company of Pine Meadow, Connecticut in 1926. The firm also added a line of steel golf club shafts to its catalog during this period, a move that helped drive total employment to around 900 employees in 1930. The latter would become a vital market for the company and sustained its operations into the late 20th century. In 1960 the Union Hardware Company was purchased by the Brunswick Sports Products Co. – later the Brunswick Corporation – a Chicago-based sporting goods conglomerate. Union Hardware was maintained as a division of Brunswick and the company’s hardware lines were abandoned in order to focus on sporting goods, primarily roller skates and golf club shafts. Roller skates were phased out by the mid-1990s and in 1996, the FM Precision Golf Manufacturing Corporation acquired the Union Hardware Division of Brunswick, which was in turn merged with Royal Grip to form Royal Precision, Inc. the following year. True Temper Sports Inc., of Memphis, Tennessee, purchased and closed the Torrington factory in 2006. As of 2015 a portion of the plant had been reoccupied as a manufacturing facility for Duc Duc, LLC., a New York-based furniture maker.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly twelve (12) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1896, ca. 1905, 1906, ca. 1909, 1917, ca. 1970, 1973, ca. 1995

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The former Union Hardware Company plant consists of a large complex of roughly twelve primary buildings/blocks located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Migeon Avenue and North Elm Street (Rte 4). The sprawling plant has been altered and/or expanded numerous times over the course of its history with the oldest building dating to 1896 and most recent erected ca. 1995. The former consists of the one-story western half of a 105’ x 400’ brick pier factory building with clerestory monitor roof located along the northern boundary of the plant. This once housed the company’s skate department and machine shop and was enlarged ca. 1905 through the addition of a two-story brick pier block on its eastern side. The ca. 1905 addition housed the company’s leather working and fishing rod departments and is characterized by its paired windows set in segmental-arched openings, corbelled cornice, and stepped parapet wall on its eastern elevation. The first decade of the 20th century saw numerous other construction projects completed by the Union Hardware Company. Among these were a 42’ x 88’ red brick office building (ca. 1905), a 40’ x 254’ brick pier machine shop and stock room (ca. 1906, enlarged ca. 1909), a 52’ x 203’ brick pier forge shop (ca. 1905), and a 60’ x 88’ red brick boiler house (ca. 1905). The most unique among these is the office building, which is a two-story Colonial Revival style office building easily identified by its modillioned cornice and hipped roof. On the other hand, the factory buildings largely mimic the details of the skate department building and are typified by their segmental-arched openings, corbelled cornices, stepped end wall parapets, and flat roof with clerestory monitors. These details were maintained in the design of another addition, this being a 102’ x 182’ brick pier factory building erected in 1917. The two-and-a-half-story building is located to the south of the office building and flanks Migeon Avenue. This was enlarged with an addition on its western side ca. 1970, and another to the south in 1973. The last of the extant primary buildings was completed ca. 1995 with the construction of an 85’ x 316’ concrete block structure at the southwest corner of the plant.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Concrete Block

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Gable
• Hip Minor
• Monitor

Roof Material

• Asphalt

Power Source

• Electricity
• Steam
• Water (Turbine)

Condition

Good, Fair, Deteriorated

Condition Notes

The complex is in good to deteriorated condition. Those portions of the plant that continue to be used for industrial purposed have been well maintained while those that are vacant, particularly the 1917 block located along Migeon Avenue, have started to fall into disrepair.

Specific Location

One 11.15 acre parcel at the southwest corner of the intersection of Migeon Avenue and North Elm Street (Rte 4).

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)
• Main Roads

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 108/009/026 / Link →

Acreage

11.51

Use (Present)

• Industrial
• Vacant

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, 1906, 1930, 1960, 1973, 1996, 2003.
9. The History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, 1918.
10. Torrington Register Souvenir Edition, 1897.