Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Converseville Co. 1853-1879
• Warren Woolen Co. 1879-c.1990

Use (Historic)

• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

Converseville Co. produced woolens at this site from 1853 to 1879. In 1879 the newly formed Warren Woolen Co. bought the plant and revamped it to produce kersey and worsted coatings. William C. Avery, who had trained at Lowell's Middlesex Mills, served as the mill agent. Warren, under different ownership, still produces high-grade woolens here, as well as shags and tweeds of camel hair, alpaca and other natural fibers. Warren is the only firm in Connecticut that still manufactures woolen cloth using the entire process, from raw wool to finished cloth. The firm owns the 19th-century frame workers' dwellings above the mill on the east side of Furnace Ave. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

n/a

Dates of Construction

1853, 1862, 1883, 1900

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

Extant buildings are the 1853 picker house, 2-story and 40' x 40' with near-flat roof, and the 1862 mill, 4 1/2-story and 120' x 38' with gable roof; the walls of both consist of granite blocks in coursed ashlar. Somewhat atypically, there is no stair tower on the mill, but the west end has freight openings at each floor. In 1883 Warren built a worsted-yarn mill, 4-story and 110' x 70'. It features brick walls, near-flat roof, segmental arch lintels and stone sills; the pyramidal roof of the stair tower has been removed. Around 1900 Warren built the brick, hip-roofed office building and in the mid-1920s erected the 3-story, flat-roofed reinforced concrete factory. Brick buildings have replaced the earlier frame structures used for dyeing, finishing, sorting and storage. The 1880s water power system includes an earth and stone buttress dam and 1,050'-long headrace; these structures supply process water, though not power, to the woolen mills. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick
• Stone

Structural System(s)

• Structural Concrete

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Hip Minor

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

• Water (Turbine)

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

One 6.79 acre parcel on west side of Furnace Avenue and east side of Furnace Brook mill pond

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 50/ / 28 / Link →

Acreage

6.79

Use (Present)

• Industrial
• Vacant

Form Completed By

n/a

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).