Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory

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Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory
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Location56 Arbor St., Hartford, Connecticut
Coordinates 41°45′34″N72°42′13″W / 41.75944°N 72.70361°W / 41.75944; -72.70361 Coordinates: 41°45′34″N72°42′13″W / 41.75944°N 72.70361°W / 41.75944; -72.70361
Area2.9 acres (1.2 ha)
Built1917 (1917)
ArchitectOldershaw, Frank H.
NRHP reference # 10000895 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 12, 2010

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, it 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. [1]

Parkville, Hartford, Connecticut United States historic place

Parkville is a neighborhood on the west side of Hartford, Connecticut. Centered on Park Street and stretching from the railroad overpass just west of Pope Park to the West Hartford town line, and Capitol Avenue to Interstate 84, Parkville is a densely developed, mixed-use neighborhood that is mainly working-class. Its name is derived from its placement at the junction of the North and South Branches of the now-subterranean Park River. Most of the eastern half of the neighborhood was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

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.

Underwood Typewriter Company

The Underwood Typewriter Company was a manufacturer of typewriters headquartered in New York City, New York. Underwood produced what is considered the first widely successful, modern typewriter. By 1939, Underwood had produced five million machines.

Contents

Description and history

The former Underwood Computing Machine Company plant is located southwest of downtown Hartford in the Parkville neighborhood, on 2.9 acres (1.2 ha) bounded by Arbor Street, Orange Street, and the CTfastrak busway. The main building is a four-story brick structure, 325 feet (99 m) in length, with projecting stair towers at the north end, and at the corner of Arbor and Orange. The towers have brownstone corner quoining, and windows set in recessed panels. The main walls consists mainly of rows of windows set in segmented-arch openings separated by brick piers. The principal building entrances are recessed in the bases of the towers, one of which has Art Deco stylistic elements. [2]

CTfastrak

CTfastrak is a regional bus rapid transit system currently operating between downtown Hartford and Downtown New Britain station in New Britain in central Connecticut. Operated by Connecticut Transit, it is the first bus rapid transit system in Connecticut and the second in New England after the MBTA Silver Line. CTfastrak opened on March 28, 2015 after fifteen years of planning and three years of construction.

Art Deco Influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s

Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewelry, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It took its name, short for Arts Décoratifs, from the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes held in Paris in 1925. It combined modern styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.

The Underwood Computing Machine Company was founded in New York City in 1909 by John T. Underwood, then president of the Underwood Typewriter Company. The company manufactured calculators and accounting and billing machines for commercial use. Its early production facilities were located in Hartford's Chamber of Commerce building on Hawthorne Street. In 1916 that building was acquired by another tenant, and the Underwood Computing Machine Company sought new quarters. This facility was built beginning in 1917 to serve its needs, under a lease agreement that ended with the company buying it in 1927. The company itself was acquired by Elliot-Fisher in 1928, which moved production to a larger facility on Capitol Avenue. This plant was converted into a training, research and development facility in 1936. The company was purchased by Olivetti in 1959, and this facility was closed by Olivetti in 1969. [2] It has since been rehabilitated and repurposed, housing the Real Art Ways collaborative among other organizations.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually referred to as either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2018 population of 8,398,748 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 19,979,477 people in its 2018 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 22,679,948 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Olivetti company

Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of the Telecom Italia Group since 2003. The first commercial programmable "desktop computer", the Programma 101, was produced by Olivetti in 1964 and was a commercial success.

Real Art Ways is a non-profit art space established in 1975. Located at 56 Arbor Street in the Parkville neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut, Real Art Ways exhibits visual art, houses an independent cinema and presents live music, theater, and literary and community events.

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.

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Underwood Computing Machine Company Factory" (PDF). Hartford Preservation. Retrieved 2017-12-14.