Ames Manufacturing Company | |
Location | Chicopee, Massachusetts |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°8′57″N72°36′24″W / 42.14917°N 72.60667°W |
Built | 1847 |
Architect | Charles McClallan |
Architectural style | Early Republic, Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 83000734 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 23, 1983 |
Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools, and cutlery in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a significant provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the Union in the American Civil War. They also cast several bronze statues, which can be found throughout New England.
The Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in a factory established in 1774[ citation needed ] in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by the Ames family. Brothers Nathan P. Ames Jr. and James T. Ames moved their tool and cutlery business to a new industrial town on the Chicopee River near Springfield, Massachusetts in 1829. [2] They were invited by Edmund Dwight, who owned textile mills nearby. [3] The Ames company began manufacturing swords for the federal government and state militias. [4]
As the town of Chicopee was formed in 1848, the Ames brothers were leaders in the new community. [3] Upon the death of Nathan P. Ames in 1847, ownership of the company turned to younger brother James Tyler Ames. [5]
By 1835, the company was creating works in brass and bronze, and in 1845, an iron foundry was added. [6] The company used the foundries for casting statuary and producing military cannons and cannonballs. [7]
The bronze doors of the East Wing of the United States Capitol and Daniel Chester French's Minuteman statue at the Lexington-Concord bridge were cast at the Ames company. [8] Other statues included large equestrian statues of George Washington (at the Boston Public Garden and in Washington, D.C.), a statue of Benjamin Franklin (Boston), and a statue of Major John Mason. [8]
When the Mexican–American War broke out, the foundry's primary output switched to armament. [7]
Upon the declared secession and formation of the Confederate States of America, the United States Army lost access to its southern arsenals. Independent arms manufacturers became crucial to the success of the U.S. Army. [9] Ames was one of the U.S. Army's most important manufacturers of side arms, swords, and light artillery and the third largest producer of heavy ordnance. [9]
In addition to producing military equipment for many years, including swords, cannons, and cannonballs, it produced sewing machine and bicycle parts in the later 19th century. The company was a major supplier of bicycles to the Overman Wheel Company from 1883-1887. [10] The sword manufacturing business was formally separated into an independent company in 1881. [11]
By 1907, the Ames foundries had been purchased by Chicopee's A.G. Spalding Company. [12]
The historic Ames Company factory, located at 5-7 Springfield Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is a complex of connected industrial buildings, the oldest of which dates to 1847. Most of the older elements are brick in construction and range in height from one to four stories. This complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1] The largest surviving buildings have been converted into residences.
Chicopee is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 55,560, making it the second-largest city in Western Massachusetts after Springfield. Chicopee is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The communities of Chicopee Center (Cabotville), Chicopee Falls, Willimansett, Fairview, Aldenville, Burnett Road, Smith Highlands and Westover are located within the city.
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is best known for his 1874 sculpture The Minute Man in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monumental statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
John Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
The Model 1832 foot artillery sword was a 25-inch (64 cm) short-sword with a straight, double-edged blade and brass-mounted leather scabbard.
Isaac Davis was a gunsmith and a militia officer who commanded a company of Minutemen from Acton, Massachusetts, during the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. In the months leading up to the Revolution, Davis set unusually high standards for his company in terms of equipment, training, and preparedness. His company was selected to lead the advance on the British Regulars during the Battle of Concord because his men were entirely outfitted with bayonets. During the American advance on the British at the Old North Bridge, Davis was among the first killed and was the first American officer to die in the Revolution.
The Chicopee River is an 18.0-mile-long (29.0 km) tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving water and its extraordinarily large basin: the Connecticut River's largest tributary basin. The Chicopee River originates in a Palmer, Massachusetts village called Three Rivers as a confluence of the Ware, Quaboag and Swift rivers. It passes through Wilbraham, Ludlow, and the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield.
The Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber is a long sword made of steel and brass, used by US cavalry from the American Civil War until the end of the Indian wars; some were still in use during the Spanish–American War. It was 41 inches (104 cm) long with a 35 by 1 in blade and weighed 2 lb 4 oz (1.0 kg) alone or 3 lb 10 oz (1.6 kg) with iron scabbard.
City Hall is a historic city hall in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Located in the heart of Chicopee at Market Square, the building is in the Italianate style, with a rose window and a 147-foot (45 m) tower modeled on that of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Charles Edward Parker.
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Minutemen provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that enabled the colonies to respond immediately to military threats. They were an evolution from the prior colonial rapid-response units.
Henry Northey Hooper was a preeminent 19th-century American manufacturer and merchant of decorative lighting, Civil War artillery, and bells and chimes. He was a Boston politician and foundry owner and in his firm he cast the first life-size bronze statue in the United States.
Henry Jackson Ellicott was an American sculptor and architectural sculptor, best known for his work on American Civil War monuments.
Melzar Hunt Mosman was an American sculptor who made a number of Civil War and Spanish–American War monuments in Massachusetts.
The M1841 6-pounder field gun was a bronze smoothbore muzzleloading cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and used from the Mexican–American War to the American Civil War. It fired a 6.1 lb (2.8 kg) round shot up to a distance of 1,523 yd (1,393 m) at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot and spherical case shot (shrapnel). The cannon proved very effective when employed by light artillery units during the Mexican–American War. The cannon was used during the early years of the American Civil War, but it was soon outclassed by newer field guns such as the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon. In the U.S. Army, the 6-pounders were replaced as soon as more modern weapons became available and none were manufactured after 1862. However, the Confederate States Army continued to use the cannon for a longer period because the lesser industrial capacity of the South could not produce new guns as fast as the North.
The M1841 12-pounder howitzer was a bronze smoothbore muzzle-loading artillery piece that was adopted by the United States Army in 1841 and employed during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. It fired a 8.9 lb (4.0 kg) shell up to a distance of 1,072 yd (980 m) at 5° elevation. It could also fire canister shot and spherical case shot. The howitzer proved effective when employed by light artillery units during the Mexican–American War. The howitzer was used throughout the American Civil War, but it was outclassed by the 12-pounder Napoleon which combined the functions of both field gun and howitzer. In the U.S. Army, the 12-pounder howitzers were replaced as soon as more modern weapons became available. Though none were manufactured after 1862, the weapon was not officially discarded by the U.S. Army until 1868. The Confederate States of America also manufactured and employed the howitzer during the American Civil War.
An equestrian statue of Joseph Hooker is installed outside the Massachusetts State House, facing Beacon Street in Boston, in the United States.
An equestrian statue of George Washington by Thomas Ball is installed in Boston's Public Garden, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
The Minute Man is an 1874 sculpture by Daniel Chester French in Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord, Massachusetts. It was created between 1871 and 1874 after extensive research, and was originally intended to be made of stone. The medium was switched to bronze and it was cast from ten Civil War-era cannons appropriated by Congress.
The equestrian statue of Charles Devens is a public monument in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Located in front of the old Worcester County Courthouse in the Institutional District, the equestrian statue honors Charles Devens, who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later served as United States Attorney General. The statue was designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter and was dedicated on July 4, 1906.
Commodore George Hamilton Perkins is a public memorial that stands on the grounds of the New Hampshire State House in Concord, New Hampshire, United States. The statue was designed by sculptor Daniel Chester French, with architect Henry Bacon designing the remainder of the public monument. It honors George H. Perkins, a New Hampshire native who had served as an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The statue was dedicated in 1902.
Nathan Peabody Ames was an American manufacturer and entrepreneur. With his younger brother James T. Ames, he founded the Ames Manufacturing Company.