Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Bassett Metal Goods Co., Inc. ca. 1915-1926
• Derby Cellular Products, Inc. 1980-2009
• Secor Typewriter Co. 1909-ca. 1915
• Sponge Rubber Products Co. 1926-ca. 1975
• Williams Typewriter Co. 1894-1909

Use (Historic)

• Clocks, Precision Equipment
• Fabricated Metal Products
• Rubber & Chemicals

Largest Documented Workforce

201-300 (1947)

Historic Narrative

The earliest sections of the former Sponge Rubber Products Company plant were originally built for the Williams Typewriter Company, which relocated to Derby from Newark, New Jersey, in May 1894. The Williams Typewriter Company was incorporated in 1886 for the production of a device invented by J. Newton Williams. This was notable for its visible typing process, which was facilitated by the machine’s unique design. The Williams Typewriter engaged two type bars set in symmetrical fans in front and behind of the platen, and an articulated action that consisted of type bars that hopped up and onto the platen from a resting position on top of an ink pad. The resultant product was both responsive and produced quality print characters, largely due to its elimination of traditional ribbon ink. The Williams Typewriter Company initially manufactured this product in Brooklyn, New York, later sharing space with the Newark-based Domestic Sewing Machine Company. The firm occupied its new plant along the Housatonic River just two months after the Ousatonic Water Company had begun construction. The Williams Typewriter Company employed 150 workers in its Derby plant, producing all of the components used in the Williams Typewriter except for the castings and type heads. The demand for the company’s product was high and advertisements from the period call out the advantage of Williams’ visible printing process over 'Blind Machines.' This advantage even caught the attention of the British War Department, which after exhaustive tests adopted the Williams Typewriter as its official typewriter. The plant’s capacity of 100 machines per week was pressed to its limits as a large portion of this turnout was shipped abroad, with upwards of 25 typewriters per week shipped to the firm’s London headquarters. Regardless of the initial successes experienced by the Williams Typewriter Company, the firm fell into financial disrepair and closed its doors just 15 years after arriving in Derby. Its plant was subsequently occupied by the Secor Typewriter Company, which was organized by inventor and industrialist, Jerome B. Secor, in September 1909. Secor had first started designing typewriters in 1906 and for many years these were marketed alongside those of the Williams Typewriter Company. Despite Secor’s talents as an inventor, however, none of his typewriter designs were particularly groundbreaking, and his firm closed its doors in 1916. The former Williams Typewriter Company plant was next occupied by the Bassett Metal Goods Company, a manufacturer of metal goods, primarily corset wire and eyelets. The company was established by Robert N. Bassett in 1836, and initially operated on Caroline Street in Derby. The firm later expanded into Shelton and acquired the Williams Typewriter Company factory as an additional branch plant in 1916. The company occupied the factory until 1926, when it was sold to the Sponge Rubber Products Company. The Sponge Rubber Products Company was originally founded by four men working for the U.S. Rubber Company in Naugatuck, Connecticut, in 1923. The company’s line of sponge rubber products included items such as play balls, toys, novelties, sponges, bath mats, chair cushions, automotive parts, and rug underlayment, and its success necessitated its move to Derby in 1926, and further expansion throughout Shelton during the late 1920s and 1940s. The firm continued to operate in Derby and Shelton until the late 1970s, by which time the company had been acquired by the B.F. Goodrich Company. The plant was eventually occupied by Derby Cellular Products, Inc., which was established in 1980 and produced rubber molding and other goods in Derby until it closed its doors in 2009.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly (6) adjoining blocks.

Dates of Construction

1894, ca. 1909, ca. 1916, ca. 1940, 1947-1965.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Administration
• Mill
• Powerhouse
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The initial Williams Typewriter Company plant was erected in 1894 but has since been substantially expanded by subsequent occupants, namely the Sponge Rubber Products Company, which occupied the factory between 1926 and ca. 1975. The present complex is comprised of numerous adjoining blocks largely erected between 1894 and ca. 1940. The two-story, 48’ x 162’ red brick manufacturing block and one-story, 24’ x 50’ red brick plating building occupied by the Williams Typewriter Company are located at the heart of the complex, but have since been enveloped by later additions. The latter include a substantial two-story, 78’ x 360’ red brick block built along the northern boundary of the plant ca. 1900 and then expanded to its current size ca. 1940. This is notable for the concrete stringcourses that run the width and length of the building and form sills for its rectangular windows openings, as well as for its rounded northwest corner and a four-story Art Deco style stair tower at the northeast corner of the building. Fenestration throughout the building consists of multi-pane steel sash, the majority with hopper style openings. Another significant component of the plant is the two-story red brick office building erected on the northern side of the factory ca. 1910. This measures roughly 42’ x 22’ and has red brick walls, segmental-arched window openings with concrete sills, and a widely overhanging hipped roof. The office was connected to the manufacturing plant through a two-story brick addition between 1947 and 1965. The connector is of brick construction and is easily identified by its full-height, multi-pane window set in a rounded wall. Further additions to the former Williams Typewriter Company plant include a two-story, 72’ x 100’ red brick block erected east of the office between 1947 and 1965; a one-story, 80’ x 160’ red brick block with clerestory monitor built as a coating room by the Bassett Metal Goods Company ca. 1916; and a cluster of manufacturing blocks (some with sawtooth monitor roofs) built on the southern side of the plant ca. 1940. These brought the overall footprint of the complex to its present size of nearly 310’ x 360’.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Clerestory Monitor
• Flat
• Hip Minor
• Monitor
• Sawtooth

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM

Power Source

• Electricity
• Water (Turbine)

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The exterior walls show some staining but appear generally sound. Some of the original windows throughout the complex are deteriorated but wholesale replacement has been avoided except in the case of the office building. Partial demo of 20,000 sqft rear building 1/2018 for new manufacturing.

Specific Location

The plant consists of all but the southernmost brick mill building (this occupied by the Graham Manufacturing Company) on a 2.07-acre parcel (150 Roosevelt Drive) located on the south side of Roosevelt Drive (formerly known as Housatonic Avenue) opposite North Avenue.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 9-4 2 (for record, use link and type in address or parcel number) / Link →

Acreage

2.07

Use (Present)

• Other: Purchase 4/2017 by Alex Zou for warehouse/manufacture of aquariums; partial demo 1/2018; 2 year build out planned
• Vacant

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, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1912, 1924, 1947.
8. Aerial Survey of Connecticut, 1934, 1965.
9. Bird’s Eye View of Birmingham, Connecticut, O.H. Bailey, 1876.
10. The History of the Old Town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880, 1880.
11. History of New Haven County, 1892.
12. Tercentenary Pictorial and History of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Malloy, Leo T., 1935.
13. Derby, Connecticut 300th Anniversary Commemorative Book; 1675-1975, 1975.
14. Hartford Courant, 1975, 1982, 2009.