When the American War for Independence became a reality in 1775, gunpowder was needed by the Continental army under George Washington. Three local men, Isaac Doolittle, Elijah Thompson and Jeremiah Atwater, obtained permission from the Council of Safety to establish a powder mill. Since waterpower was necessary to run the mill, the West River was selected as the site. Two mills were eventually built, one on the upper section of the river and the other on the lower section. The mill on the upper section is the one referred to in the map drawn by Ezra Stiles showing the British attack on New Haven, July 5th, 1779. (slide 24) In its first year the mill turned out over 4.000 pounds of gunpowder for the army. The manufacture of gunpowder continued, at these sites, until early in the 1800’s.
Good quality paper for legal documents, books, newspapers and letter writing was costly and scarce in the 1700’s. There were a number of reasons for this. Two of the most important were the scarcity of skilled workers and the fact that the machinery had to be imported from England. With the outbreak of the war in 1776 the paper shortage was even more critical. Not only was trade suspended but large amounts of paper were now needed for official purposes, military correspondence and legislative documents.
The first paper mill erected in the New Haven area was in Westville, in 1776, by David Bunce. (slide 25) The location of the mill was on the present site of TRW, Geometric Tool, at the corner of Valley and Blake Streets. The necessity for a clean water supply for the paper making process was one reason this West River site was selected. A breast wheel of about 12 feet in diameter was probably the type used to furnish power for the mill, This site proved an excellent location for a mill. Not only was this area occupied by other paper mills but other industries as well. A total of about eight mills occupied this site between 1776 and 1896.
The West Rock Paper Mill, was established in 1840, by Joseph Parker and J.H. Herrick. The mill was located on Scots Road, Orange Street and Main Street, now Whalley and Dayton. (slide 26) This site was formally occupied by a cotton mill owned by John R. Livingston, Dixon and McIntosh. After 1846 the business of making paper was carried on by Parker under the name Frederick S. Parker and Sons. In 1869 Joseph Parker was taken into the firm and the name was changed to the F.S.&J. Parker Company. The mill continued in operation until 1969. All that is left today is the foundation and some slight evidence of the spillway. (slides 27-30) LESSON VI
The mill at first used the traditional method of making paper, that of processing cotton rags and mill sweepings into paper. The rags and sweepings were obtained from cotton mills in the New Haven area. The white rags were set aside for the making of the better grades of paper. To prepare the pulp, vats were filled with water and the rags. This mixture was then beaten to a pulp using heavy hammers that were driven by a waterwheel. The pulp was transferred from the vats into rectangular molds. Heavy weights were used to squeeze out the excess water and flatten the sheets. The sheets were then hung on poles in a loft to dry. This last might take weeks depending on the weather. (slide 31)
Parker installed a new type of machine, one of the first in Connecticut, to convert bleached pulp into rolls of paper. This was an improvement on the old method of making paper. The new method proved such a success that the Parker firm became one of the first major producers of top quality book paper in the United States. In 1856 Parker developed a blotting paper so superior to the English variety that the company, from that time on, specialized in blotting paper until it closed in 1969. By 1890 Parker was using both a waterwheel and steam power to produce over 2 1/2 tons of paper a day. The firm employed 24 men and 12 women in its operation. Other paper mills in Westville, in the late 1800’s, were the James Harper Paper Mill, also known as The Pond Lily Paper Company, and the A.B. Mallory Paper Mill. (slide 32)
Abel Buell, on a trip to England to buy copper for his New Haven mint, visited a number of mills that were involved in the production of cotton cloth. He persuaded William McIntosh, skilled weaver and mechanic, to come to New Haven and help establish a cotton mill. The year was 1787. Two things a textile mill needed was land for a large building and a stream with a moderate flow of water to turn the waterwheel. A site on the West River was chosen. This mill lasted only a few years possibly because of poor financial management.
In 1796 McIntosh, David Dixon and some New York investors, including John Livingston, constructed a large building 100 feet long and four stories high at Main and Orange Streets, now Whalley and Dayton. Here they began the manufacture of cotton cloth. For a few years the mill produced cloth, yarn, wicks, etc.. The majority of the workers at the mill were pauper children brought over from Scotland. For some unknown reason the mills machinery was changed over to the production of woolen cloth. A few years later the mill closed again for an unknown reason. The site was then occupied by a paper mill owned by William Buddington. In 1837 the mill was destroyed by a fire. In 1840 this site became the location of the Parker Paper Company.
As one approached Westville by way of the Litchfield Turnpike there was a tollgate operated by Munson Sperry, this was about 1845. The area after the toll was originally called Bradley Town. Sheldon Hotchkiss had a carpenter shop with a small waterpowered wheel. This shop was located between the West River and the base of West Rock. Also in this area Fitch Sperry carried on a wagon repair business and Newell Johnson had a machine shop and axle business and foundry.
When Richard Sperry died he left his land, along the Litchfield Turnpike, to his son. After the American Revolution Levi Sperry, a descendent, decided the area needed a grist mill. He erected the mill in 1794, and it became a successful operation for over 40 years. The West River, was located on his property, so to supply power to the mill Sperry built a dam across the river. The mill was located at the present site of the Pond Lily Company. The dam is located behind the building and could possibly be the original. (slide 18) About 1844 the grist mill was taken down and on the site a factory was built for the manufacture of carriage springs and axles. In 1856 the factory was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and carried on a very successful trade with the union army during the Civil War. In the 1870’s the company discontinued operations due to the depression that lasted from 1873-1879. The owners of the Pond Lily site began to look for another type of business to occupy the mill. James Harper was hired to open up a paper mill. (slide 33) The Pond Lily Paper Mill produced paper until the 1890’s. In 1896 the firm became involved in textile dying and became known as the Pond Lily Company. (slide 34) It remained in operation until the 1970’s.
Matches were not made in this country until after 1836. It is believed that the match industry in the United States had its beginnings in Westville. Between the 1850’s and the 1890’s five companies produced matches in Westville; A. Beecher and Sons, later Diamond Match; T. Gorman Match Factory; Tyler and Hotchkiss; and the Belden Match Company. Many of these firms were located on or near Tryon Street, now West Rock Avenue. (slide 35)
The match industry got its start through the efforts of Thomas Sanford and Anson Beecher. These men developed the machinery that made the production of matches profitable. This was done by combining the different steps in the production of matches into one machine that started with the raw lumber and ended with the boxed finished product.
In 1854 A. Beecher and Sons established their mill at Tryon and Fountain Streets. At this site they produced machine made straw baskets, the first woven straw hats produced in the United States, and matches. On April 12, 1867 Anson and his four sons acquired the mill site on the corner of Water and Pearl Streets, now Valley and Blake Streets. At this site they manufactured matches, as well as wooden boxes and baskets. In 1870 the Beecher firm was operated by waterpower. The waterwheel produced 40 horsepower. The source of the power was the West River. These facts were so noted in the 1870 United States Census. The water used to drive the wheel came through a raceway located on Valley Street. In the following years the business prospered becoming Swift, Courtney and Beecher and finally in 1881 the Diamond Match Company. (slide 36)
The production of matches was a dangerous operation and the possibility of fire and explosion was very real. In the 1860’s Edwin Tyler and James Hotchkiss operated a match company on Whalley Avenue. In 1874 Tyler was killed in an explosion at the factory and Hotchkiss joined the Beecher organization. Another match company, the T. Gorman Match Factory, located on Tryon Street, burned to the ground in 1870. The fire lasted three days and the flames and smoke could be seen for miles.
One site of many industries during the early years was at the corner of Pearl and East, now Fitch and Blake. (slide 37) New Haven’s reputation as a hardware center began at this location in Westville when, in 1835 the Blake brothers Eli and Philo started a factory for the manufacture of door locks, latches and other types of hardware. The shop was originally a grist mill whose power came from the Wilmont Brook. The source of this brook, Lake Wintergreen and Beaver Pond Brook. Beaver Pond Brook started at Beaver Pond. In the early 1800’s the pond was nearly one mile in length and 1000 feet wide. (slide 7)
The Blake firm was the first in the United States and perhaps the world, to produce a new type of lock called the mortise lock. This new type fit inside the door and replaced the clumsy box lock. They were also one of the first companies to manufacture everyday household items that were inexpensive to purchase. Over the years the Blake factory grew in size and reputation. By the time it ceased operations in 1880 it employed 60-70 men.
Beside the Blake Foundry and Hardware Factory, the following industries were located in this area, most of them using Wilmont and Beaver Pond Brooks as their source of power: The Dexter Comb Company later the site of the Gilbert Manufacturing Company, as well as the W.& E.T. Fitch Cabinet Lock Company. The Westville Mallable Iron Company occupied a large section of the area as well. Up on Beaver Pond Brook was the site of the Harrison Portable Grist Mill Factory. Up river from Harrisons, on Beaver Pond, was the site of the first grist mill in the area.
The area where Main, Whalley, Broad and Tryon met, now Whalley, Fountain and West Rock, was another site of many different industries over the years. In 1867 the following firms could be found on Tryon Street; The Abel Jacox grist mill, Woodworth and Sinclair Hot Nut Factory, the Thomas Gorman Match Company, M. Isbell Blacksmith and Wagonmakers Shop and the Hotchkiss and Parker Rail, Post Sawing and Turning Company. The West River ran behind these businesses supplied the power for their operation. In the case of the grist mill the river ran through the middle of the building. (slide 35) At the bottom of Fountain Street, across from Tryon Street was the Heath Blacksmith Shop. A raceway and dam above the site furnished power for the operation. On Whalley Avenue, down from Heath, across the Whalley Avenue bridge was the Rawson Cutlery Shop. The river gave power to turn the millstones used in the making of steel cutlery.
One of the businesses that made Westville famous in the later part of the 1800’s was the Geometric Tool Company. On the present site of Geometric there originally stood a grist mill owned and operated by Joseph Munson. In 1776 David Bunce and Lemul Hotchkiss purchased some land and water rights from Munson for the purpose of constructing a paper mill. The site of the mill was just below the grist mill. The mill was powered by water from the West River. A dam was constructed across the river to control the flow of the river. Munson gave the men the right to dam the river only if it didn’t interfere with the operation of his grist mill. (slides 39 and 40)
In 1827 Bunce sold the mill site to Stephen Turney and William Buddington. On December 31, 1842 the mill burned down, it was never rebuilt as a paper mill. In 1848 a mill was set up by Wales French to manufacture augers and bits. (slide 41) Before the Civil War William A. Clark manufactured expansive bits at the site. During the Civil War William Blake received a contract from the Colt Firearms firm for the manufacture of bullet molds. The next firm located here in 1867 was the match company of Swift, Courtney and Beecher, later Diamond Match.
Geometric Drill’s beginnings were closely connected to the Diamond Match Company. William J. Smith work for Diamond. In 1891 he invented a tool that could bore squares and other geometric holes in metal and wood. Smith obtained a patent for his tool in 1892 and began to look for backers to help finance the production and sales of his invention. One of the backers was William H. Swift, the president of Diamond Match. In 1893 the Geometric Drill Company was established, on the site of Diamond Match which had moved its operations to Ohio. Geometric became a highly successful leader in the machine tool industry. In 1905 the company changed its name to Geometric Tool, today it is a subsidiary of TRW.
As a conclusion to this unit the following list is an overall summary of the industries that have made Westville an important part of the industrial development of the New Haven area.