Ball and Roller Bearing Company

Last updated
Ball and Roller Bearing Company
BallAndRollerBearingCompanyDanburyCT.jpg
USA Connecticut location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location20-22 Maple Avenue, Danbury, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°23′54″N73°27′8″W / 41.39833°N 73.45222°W / 41.39833; -73.45222 Coordinates: 41°23′54″N73°27′8″W / 41.39833°N 73.45222°W / 41.39833; -73.45222
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1886 (1886)
Architectural styleQueen Anne
NRHP reference No. 89001087 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 25, 1989

The Ball and Roller Bearing Company, also known as American Family Crafts and the Joseph Nutt House and Machine Shop, is a historic industrial complex at 20-22 Maple Avenue in Danbury, Connecticut. Developed mainly in the early 20th century, the factory is most notable as the location where Lewis Heim invented the modern grinding machine, which revolutionized the manufacture of machine parts. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1989. [1] It now houses a church and social service agencies.

Contents

Description and history

The former Ball and Roller Bearing Company plant is located in a mainly industrial area east of downtown Danbury, on the west side of Maple Street just south of its crossing of railroad tracks. The complex includes three buildings, two of which are wood frame and one which is brick. The two wood-frame buildings include the Queen Anne-style former home of Joseph Nutt, who established a machine shop providing services to Danbury's hat making industry in 1886. Nutt's home also served as his company's office, and is attached to a single-story monitor-roofed brick structure. Connected to these is the main three-story wood-frame factory building. The latter building used to have a series of additions extending further north; these were heavily damaged by fire in 1987 and demolished. [2]

The Nutt factory was purchased by Lewis and Alfred Heim in 1904. Lewis Heim had worked in Danbury's hat factories, and had by that time already patented several inventions, including improvements to hatmaking machinery. The Heim brothers branched out into the manufacture of ball and roller bearings in 1909, parts which were in high demand for the burgeoning automotive industry. Their success resulted in the repeated expansion of the factory, and it was here that Lewis Heim developed and improved the centerless grinding machine, which enabled the precision shaping of cylindrical parts. Heim sold most of his patent rights in 1922 and the plant in 1928. His Ball and Roller Bearing Company continues to operate in New Milford, Connecticut. [2] The buildings have since been repurposed to other non-industrial uses, with some loss of historic integrity.

See also

Related Research Articles

Saxony Mill United States historic place

The Saxony Mill was a historic textile mill complex at 66 West Street in Rockville section of Vernon, Connecticut. With a construction history dating to 1836, it was one of the oldest surviving wood-frame textile mills in the state prior to a 1994 fire which led to its demolition. The mill complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut</span>

This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below may be seen in an online map.

American Precision Museum United States historic place

The American Precision Museum is located in the renovated 1846 Robbins & Lawrence factory on South Main Street in Windsor, Vermont. The building is said to be the first U.S. factory at which precision interchangeable parts were made, giving birth to the precision machine tool industry. In recognition of this history, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966. In 1987, the building was recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as an International Heritage Site, and the collection was recognized as an International Heritage Collection. For each of these designations, the armory was considered a site where pivotal events occurred in the history of American industry, as well as a place that lends itself to comprehensive interpretation of that history.

Starr Mill United States historic place

Two 19th century factory buildings are sited on a bank beside Starr Mill pond on Beverly Heights just off Middlefield Street. Each building is 3½ stories tall, and overlooks a picturesque pond and woods to the west; a parking lot packed with trucks and industrial equipment on the south; and nineteenth century housing on Beverly Heights to the north.

Colt Armory United States historic place

The Colt Armory is a historic factory complex for the manufacture of firearms, created by Samuel Colt. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut along the Connecticut River, and as of 2008 is part of the Coltsville Historic District, named a National Historic Landmark District. It is slated to become part of Coltsville National Historical Park, now undergoing planning by the National Park Service.

Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut) Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural styles from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown of its size in Connecticut not to have developed around either port facilities or a water power site.

John Rider House Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century.

Dry Dock Complex (Detroit, Michigan) United States historic place

The Dry Dock Complex consists of six interconnected buildings located at 1801–1803 Atwater Street in Detroit, Michigan, as well as the remains of a nearby dry dock at 1900 Atwater Street. The 1801-1803 Atwater complex is also known as the Globe Trading Company Building, and in 2015 was opened by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as the Outdoor Adventure Center.

New York Belting and Packing Co. United States historic place

The New York Belting and Packing Co. complex, also known locally for its main 20th-century occupant, the Fabric Fire Hose Company, is a historic industrial complex at 45-71, 79-89 Glen Road in Newtown, Connecticut. Its centerpiece is a four-story brick mill building with an Italianate tower, built in 1856. The property also includes a dam impounding the adjacent Pootatuck River, a mill pond, and a hydroelectric power generation facility.

Barden Corporation is a ball bearing manufacturer based in Danbury, Connecticut, USA with factories in Danbury, Winsted, Connecticut and in Plymouth, England. It previously had factories in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Holman & Merriman Machine Shop United States historic place

The Holman & Merriman Machine Shop, also known as the Derby Shop, Goodnow Pail Factory, L. A. Carpenter Machine Shop, and Streeter Shop, is an historic industrial building at 63 Canal Street in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. This three-story brick building, built in 1837, is the only building with a clerestory roof in Hinsdale, and one of only four in the state. It is also distinctive as the only known example in the state of a building purpose-built as a large-scale cooperage. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2007, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in January 2007.

Blakeslee Forging Company United States historic place

The Blakeslee Forging Company is a historic industrial complex at 100 West Main Street in the Plantsville area of Southington, Connecticut. The surviving six buildings, dating to about 1910 or later, were developed for a company founded in 1877 that specialized in drop forging. The buildings are well preserved structures typifying industrial buildings found in Southington from that era. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Clark Brothers Factory No. 1 United States historic place

The Clark Brothers Factory No. 1 was a historic industrial complex at 1331 South Main Street in the Milldale area of Southington, Connecticut. Developed beginning in the 1850s, it was one of the nation's largest sources of carriage bolts. The complex listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 consisted of a group of brick buildings dating to 1893 and later. It has since been entirely demolished, and the land stands vacant and overgrown.

Gillettes Grist Mill United States historic place

Gillette's Grist Mill is a historic grist mill on Maple Hollow Road in New Hartford, Connecticut. Probably built in the mid-19th century, it is an extremely rare example of a grist mill with a surviving water wheel. The mill property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

H.C. White Company Mill Complex United States historic place

The H.C. White Company Mill Complex, is a historic industrial complex at 140 Water Street in North Bennington, Vermont. The White Company was founded in 1879, producing stereographic viewers and stereograph cards, as well as the Kiddie-Kar, a three-wheeled wooden scooter for children. These premises were occupied by the company from then until its closure in 1935. The complex, with buildings dating from 1887 to 1919, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

M. Swift and Sons Company United States historic place

The M. Swift and Sons Company is a historic industrial complex at 10 and 60 Love Lane in Hartford, Connecticut. Established around 1887, it was the home of one of the nation's most successful manufacturers of gold leaf by the process of goldbeating. The complex, including both industrial and residential components, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

J. B. Williams Co. Historic District Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The J. B. Williams Co. Historic District encompasses a historic 19th-century factory complex and related family housing in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Located on and around Hubbard, Williams, and Willieb Streets, the area includes a mid-19th century frame factory as well as later brick buildings, and houses belonging to its owners, members of the Williams family. The soap factory operated by the Williamses was one of the otherwise agrarian town's largest economic forces until its mid-20th century decline. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Emerson Shoe Company United States historic place

The Emerson Shoe Company is a historic industrial property located at Maple and Plain Streets in Rockland, Massachusetts. Built about 1891 and repeatedly enlarged, it is the largest wood-frame structure in Rockland, and was home to one of its largest employers in the early 20th century. Now converted to residential use, the factory complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

Matthews and Willard Factory United States historic place

The Matthews and Willard Factory was a historic industrial site at Cherry Avenue and North Elm Street in Waterbury, Connecticut. Founded in 1874, Matthews and Willard contributed to the expansion of Waterbury's brass processing industry. The plant remained little altered from its last period of expansion c. 1900, and was a good example of period industrial architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, and was demolished in 2012. As of 2018, the site stands vacant.

Lewis Rasmus Heim was an American machinist and businessman who was the inventor of the Centerless Cylindrical Grinder, the Heim Joint Rod End Bearing and a pioneer of modern spherical, ball and roller bearings.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 William E. Devlin (February 1, 1981). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Ball and Roller Bearing Company / American Family Crafts / Joseph Nutt House and Machine Shop". National Park Service. and Accompanying 9 photos, exterior and interior, from 1984 and 1988