M. Swift and Sons Company

Last updated
M. Swift and Sons Company
HartfordCT MSwiftAndSons.jpg
USA Connecticut location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location10 & 60 Love Lane, Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°47′31″N72°40′52″W / 41.79194°N 72.68111°W / 41.79194; -72.68111 Coordinates: 41°47′31″N72°40′52″W / 41.79194°N 72.68111°W / 41.79194; -72.68111
Area2.6 acres (1.1 ha)
Builtc. 1887 (1887)
NRHP reference # 13000527 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 2013

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. [1]

Hartford, Connecticut Capital of Connecticut

Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. The city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

Gold leaf art medium

Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-karat yellow gold.

Goldbeating process of hammering gold into an extremely thin unbroken sheet for use in gilding

Goldbeating is the process of hammering gold into an extremely thin unbroken sheet for use in gilding.

Contents

Description and history

The former M. Swift and Sons Company plant is located in Hartford's residential North End neighborhood, on a roughly triangular parcel bounded by Love Lane on the west, Garden Street on the east, and Westland Street to the south. The largest structure is the main factory building, a two-story agglomeration of brick and stone structures that are the result of multiple building expansions by the Swift Company. The property also includes two houses, built c. 1887 and 1914, that are historically associated with the factory's owners. [2]

The company was founded in 1887, when Matthew Swift left Hartford's largest goldbeating company, the J.M. Ney Company, to begin his own business on this parcel, which he had purchased for his residence in 1871. Originally working out of a small wood-frame building south of his house, Swift's company grew rapidly, with repeated expansions of infrastructure by the early 19th century. In 1902, the Swift Company was the largest goldbeating company in the state. In the first half of the 20th century it continued to grow, shipping gold leaf to international markets, and innovating in the processes of its manufacture. The company's business eventually succumbed to changing tastes, and it was shuttered in 2005. [2]

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut.

Related Research Articles

Russell Company Upper Mill

The Russell Company Upper Mill is an historic structure in Middletown, Connecticut, built in 1836 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building stands at the junction of Russell Street and East Main Street in South Farms. There is a small pond to the south. East Main Street's commercial and industrial development ends there. To the north, small businesses border the street, followed by the buildings of Russell Manufacturing Company, the area's most dominant feature. Russell Street crosses Sumner Brook nearby and ascends to a large residential district to the west. The mill is currently a condo-apartment complex.

Sanseer Mill former textile mill in Middletown, Connecticut

The Sanseer Mill is a historic 19th-century mill at 282 Main Street Extension in Middletown, Connecticut. It was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Whitney & Company (Leominster, Massachusetts)

The Whitney & Company building is a historic industrial facility at 142 Water Street in Leominster, Massachusetts. The utilitarian brick four story building was built in 1893, and extended in 1923. It was built by Fred Abbot Whitney and Walther F. Whitney, whose business was the manufacture of boxes, notably paper boxes and satin-lined boxes, used for shipping other products to customers. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It has since been converted into residences called the Watermill Apartments.

Elm Street Historic District (Hartford, Connecticut)

The Elm Street Historic District encompasses a collection of architecturally distinguished institutional and residential buildings near the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut. Located on Capitol Avenue and Trinity and Elm Streets, it includes the city's best concentration of early 20th-century architecture, including Bushnell Memorial Hall and several state office buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Strouse, Adler Company Corset Factory building in Connecticut, United States

The Strouse, Adler Company Corset Factory is a historic factory complex at 78-84 Olive Street in New Haven, Connecticut. Developed between 1876 and 1923, it was the largest and oldest of the city's several corset manufacturers, and remained in continuous operation for that purpose until 1998. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It has since been converted into residential use.

Coltsville Historic District historic district in Hartford, Connecticut

Coltsville Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in Hartford, Connecticut. The district encompasses the factory, worker housing, and owner residences associated with Samuel Colt (1814-1862), one of the nation's early innovators in precision manufacturing and the production of firearms. It was the site of important contributions to manufacturing technology made by Colt and the industrial enterprise he created. Coltsville is a cohesive and readily identifiable 260-acre (110 ha) area, part of which was originally listed as the Colt Industrial District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2008.

The Society of Gilders (SoG) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the practice and preservation of the art of using gold and metal leaf. SoG offers technical help for gilders, restorers, conservators, craftsmen, and all those interested in the gilding arts. Classes and conferences held by SoG bring gilders together from around the globe to learn, discuss and share.

Capewell Horse Nail Company

The Capewell Horse Nail Company is a historic brick industrial complex located in the Hartford, Connecticut neighborhood of Sheldon/Charter Oak. It was built in 1903 by industrialist George Capewell at the corner of Charter Oak Avenue and Popieluszko Court after the previous headquarters burned down.

Frog Hollow, Hartford, Connecticut

Frog Hollow is one of the neighborhoods of Hartford, Connecticut. It is a predominantly working-class residential area, bounded on the north by Capitol Avenue, the east by Lafayette Street, the south by Madison and Hamilton Streets, and on the west by Interstate 84. The neighborhood was developed between about 1850 and 1930, and still contains a remarkable concentration of residential housing from that period. The entire neighborhood, covering more than 150 acres (61 ha) and including more than 900 buildings, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Clark Brothers Factory No. 1

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.

Peck, Stow & Wilcox Factory

The Peck, Stow & Wilcox Factory was a historic factory complex at 217 Center Street in Southington, Connecticut. Begun in 1870, it was home to the town's largest industrial employer of the late 19th century. Surviving elements of the factory, dating to 1912, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The complex, last used by Ideal Forging, was demolished in 2015 after it was shuttered in 2003.

Gilbert Clock Factory

The Gilbert Clock Factory is a historic factory complex at 13 Wallens Street in Winchester, Connecticut. Developed between 1871 and 1897, its surviving elements are a preservation of the state's history as a center for the manufacture of low-cost clocks. The company was one of the town's largest employers for many years. The surviving buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984; they are now house apartments.

Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills Historic District

The Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills Historic District encompasses a company-built factory and residential area in the Thompsonville area of Enfield, Connecticut. In addition to the former factory buildings of the Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills, it includes more than 150 housing units built by the company between about 1830 and 1920. It is roughly bounded on the north by Lafayette Street and Alden Avenue, the east by Hartford Avenue and Lincoln Street, the south by High Street, and the west by River Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills

The Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Mills were once one of the largest manufacturers of carpeting in the United States. The company's early 20th-century factories, located in Thompsonville, Connecticut, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Used by a succession of carpet makers until the 1960s, the company complex has for the most part been converted to residential use.

Hartford Electric Light Company Maple Avenue Sub-Station

The Hartford Electric Light Company Maple Avenue Sub-Station is a historic industrial and commercial building at 686 Maple Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. Built in 1926, it is a fine example of Classical Revival architecture designed by noted local architects, and a reminder of the history of the area's electrification. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and has been converted into commercial use.

Royal Typewriter Company Building

The Royal Typewriter Company building was located at 150 New Park Avenue in the Parkville neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut. Built in 1907, it was the principal manufacturing facility of the Royal Typewriter Company, a major local employer, until 1972. Most of the building was destroyed by fire in 1992; the remainder was subsequently razed and the site now houses a shopping center, where a commemorative plaque is located. The building, which was one of the city's largest examples of late 19th-century mill construction, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory

The Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory is a historic industrial complex at 56 Arbor Street in the Parkville neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut. Developed beginning in 1917 by the Underwood Typewriter Company, its was used by that company and its successors for manufacturing, research, and development until 1969. It presently houses the artistic collaborative Real Art Ways and other organizations. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

J. B. Williams Co. Historic District

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.

Matthews and Willard Factory

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.

Meriden Curtain Fixture Company Factory

The Meriden Curtain Fixture Company Factory is a historic factory complex at 122 Charles Street in Meriden, Connecticut. Built in 1892 for a company founded in 1869, it is a good example of late-19th century industrial architecture, and is notable for its association with Charles Parker, one of the city's leading industrialists of the period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The complex has been converted to residential use.

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for M. Swift and Sons Company" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2017-12-13.