Russell Company Upper Mill

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name =Russell Company Upper Mill
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location = 475 E. Main St
Middletown, Connecticut
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added = February 6, 1986
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refnum = 86000150
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governing_body = Address: 475 East Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut
Style: Mid 19th Century Industrial; addition- Second Empire
Date of Construction: 1845; addition 1870
Materials: Brick Walls and Brownstone Foundation, with Asphalt Shingle roof
Structural System: Load Bearing Masonry; Structural Iron or Steel Framing; with Mansard roof
Architect: Unknown
Builder: Unknown
Historic Use: Industural
Current Use: Residential Apartments

Relationship to Surroundings

This large building stands at the junction of Russell Street and East Main Street in South Farms. A small pond is south. East Main Street's commercial and industrial development end here. North, small businesses border the street followed by buildings of Russell Manufacturing Company, the area's most dominant features. Russell Street crosses sumner Brook nearby and ascends to a large residential district, west.

Significance

This large factory building was erected by the Russell Manufacturing Company, probably during the 1840s. Incorporated in 1834 by Samuel Russell, Samuel Hubbard and others, in 1841 the company was the first to produce elastic webbing on power looms. By 1896, it manufactured a wide variety of woven products and was the nation's largest manufacturer of suspenders. Approximately nine hundred workers were employed in the company's seven mills.

The original brick structure, identified as the "Webb Mill" on the 1859 Walling map, runs parallel to Sumner Brook. A mill race once flowed through the building. The long main factory section has a gabled roof trimmed by a corbeled brick cornice moulding. Exterior, vertical, metal supports reinforce the brick walls. The two mansard roofed ells, added prior to 1874, have a number of gabled dormers. A tall smokestack and the small decorative towers that crowned different parts of the roof were removed sometimes after 1896.

The building, together with dam and pond nearby, reflects South Farms early industrial history. The success of the Russell Manufacturing Company transformed the area into a thriving city district. Three company factories bordered the brook here in 1850. Of these this structure is the last remaining building.

Current Use and Condition

It is currently a condo-apartment complex that is in fine condition.

References

Middletown, Connecticut Historical and Architectural Resources. Volume II, Card Number 99. Robert Svec. October, 1978.