USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Winsted > The Winsted tercentenarian > Part 12
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Less than three years ago the com- pany took over the Ryko Manufactur- ing Company of Winsted established by Ludwig Reichold. a renowned elec- trical engineer. who has become na- tionally known in the electrical house- hold appliance field through the mann- facture of high grade household eler- trical appliances. including automatic and non-antomatic electric hot plates. electric grills, etc .. most of which have exclusive and patented features.
The Winsted Hardware Manufac- turing Company was incorporated June 1. 1910. with T. H. Bronson. president : Arthur A. Griffin. secretarv. and Stuart B. Camp. treasurer. The present officers are : President. T. H. Bronson : vice-president. J. S. Frazee : secretary and treasurer. Ellsworth Fra- zee.
The main building was erected in 1896 by the Winsted Metalliform Com- pany and was later known as the Kel- logg & Wakefield plant. A large ad-
dlition was built in 1924. There are forty employes.
The Fitzgerald Manufac- turing Company
THE Winsted Branch of the Fit%- gerald Manufacturing Company. manufacturers of electrical equipment. emploving 150 hands, was established ! in 1911. having purchased the T. C. Richards' Hardware plant on Meadow Street. It is one of Winsted's leading industries. Important addition- and improvements have been made in the plant from time to time in the past twenty-one years and great advances have been made in the variety and finish of its products, which are sold everywhere and are highly appreciated by the trade.
The company was established in Torrington in 1907. where it has a large modern plant producing antonio- bile accessories and motor appliances. Warehouses are maintained in New York. Chicago and San Francisco and there is a branch factory in Toronto. Canada.
The officers are : President. P. J. Fitz- gerald. Torrington: vice-president. M. D. Fitzgerald. Torrington: treasurer. Manrice F. Fitzgerald. Winsted : secre- tarv. Bertram Peck. Torrington.
The site occupied by the company here is one of the oldest in Winsted. covering several lines of mannfactured prodducts. The T. C. Richards Hard- ware Company removed here from New York in 1874.
Mason Silk Company
T THE Mason Silk Company which operates the plant on Munro Street was incorporated in 1927. mannfactur- ing silk thread specialties made front the raw silk. and disposed of solely to other manufacturers. The company em- plovs fifty hands and has been running steadily since it was established. The plant has been thoroughly modernized. electric power having been substituted for steam and the most improved ma- chinerv installed for turning out the product.
The original Winsted silk factory was established in 1874 bv Eugene and Oscar Potter and James J. Lawler. The brick addition was built in recent years. The factory was finally acquired by the Belding Bros. Co. and then by the Belding- Hemingway Company and sold by them to the present owners.
The Mason Silk Company is incor- porated for $100.000. The officers are: President. Harry T. Mason. Ridge. wood. N. J .: vice-president. Harry E. Norton. Winsted : treasurer. Benjamin Pomeroy. New York. and secretary. T. H. O'Hara, Bridgeport.
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THE WINSTED TERCENTENARIAN
The Hudson Wire Company
Winsted Division Was Established in 1931 by Pioneer Drawers of Fine ; Wire in Naugatuck Valley
THE wire business conducted in the former plant of the Empire Knife [ Co. on Main Street, known as the Win- sted Division of the Hudson Wire C'o. of Ossining. N. Y., was founded by Jos eph Royle and Robert Akin, who were pioneer drawers of fine wire of copper and its alloys in the Naugatuck Val- ley. Joseph Royle drew the first wire for Edison's dynamos. They were con- nected for a long time with the u. sonia Brass & Copper Co .. finally start- ing a plant of their own at Ossining as a partnership under the name of Royle & Akin.
Several years later in 1906 the busi- ness was incorporated as the Hudson Wire Co. The company came to Win- sted in 1931. taking over the Winsted Insulated Wire Co., which had been started by James Sweet. The Ilndson Wire Co. manufactures enamel wire and the textile coverings on fine cop- per wire and alloys which are used very largely in the construction of radios and in the motor field.
The Winsted factory has the latest type of high speed equipment. produe- ing the highest grade of wire that is required at the present time. Each vear the factory has operated here, the business has increased 100 per cent. In the first six months of 1935 the factory turned out as much wire as in the whole year of 1934. Thirty hands are employed. The normal number in good times is seventy-five.
The manager of the Winsted Divi- sion is O. F. Bitzer, who was in the same business in New Haven with the Acme Wire Company for twenty-two years. The office manager since Sop- tember, 1931, is George W. Oliver, for- merly assistant to the late C. E. Wil- liams. general manager of the William L. Gilbert Clock Company.
Winsted had a wire factory in 1812. when Col. Samuel and Capt. Luther Hoadley and James Boyd erected a factory on the site of the office of the William L. Gilbert Clock Corp .. "the first or one of the first in the country for breaking down iron wire from the rod and drawing down to any size from a half inch to a hair's diameter."
In 1853 the Winsted Augur Com- pany built a factory where the Hudson wire factory is and operated for seven vears, when the plant was purchased by Rice, Lathrop & Clary. manufactur ers of table cutlery. The factory was burned and rebuilt by Lathrop & Bar. ton in 1866, who went out of business in the 70's. It was next occupied iu
Winsted Division of the Hudson Wire Company
1879 by the Empire Knife Company. who built the present line plant. going out of business in the late 1920's.
William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation
A corn mill, saw mill and dwelling house were built about 1774 by Elias Balcom on the "mill lot" at Still River falls (clock factory) which had been reserved by the Hartford proprie- tors of Winchester, and in 1776 he con- veyed his interest to Stephen Chubb. Jr .. of New Hartford, and the next year Mr. Chubb sold to Ensign Jesse Doolittle of New Hartford. Deacon Abraham Filley of Winchester and New Hartford had charge of the mill and made a wooden clock with a pen knife. The grist mill was swept away by a flood and in 1803 the property was bought by Col. Samuel and Capt. Luther Hoadley, who erected a small wooden clock factory about 1807. Riley Whiting, born on his father's farm (Bushnell's) near Sucker Brook in 1785. married Urania Hoadley in 1806 and about 1810 went into partnership with his brothers-in-law and in 1813 became the sole owner of the clock business, which he continued until his death in 1835 while on a business trip in Illinois.
Mrs. Whiting sold the factory in 1841 to Lueins Clarke who formed a partner- ship with William L. Gilbert, under the name of Clarke. Gilbert & Co .. to manufacture clocks. Mr. Clarke retired in 1845 and the business has since been conducted by William L. Gilbert, The Gilbert Manufacturing Company, The William L. Gilbert Clock Company. incorporated in 1871. and the William 1. Gilbert Clock Corp., incorporated September 10, 1934.
This is Winsted's largest industry. employing over 400 operatives. doing over a million dollar business which in the peak times exceeded two million
dollars. The leaders are alarms, nov- elty. mantel and wall clocks.
The officers are: Ralph E. Thomp- son, president ; Othneil G. Williams, first vice-president; J. J. Mcclellan. second vice-president and general sales manager, and Robert J. Leighton, secretary and treasurer.
The Union Pin Company
THE Union Pin Company, manufac- turers of Trupoint pins, occupies the factory plant on the Lake Stream nearest. Highland Lake, utilizing the first water power privilege on the stream. The company was established in Torrington and removed to Winsted in 1913 and bought by Howard W. Light in 1915.
The plant has been doubled in the last fifteen years under the manage- ment of Mr. Light. It is the only fac- tory in America which specializes in the manufacture of pins only. Tru- point pin points are stropped after be- ing ground, which makes them smooth- er and permits them to penetrate more easily. The company has just intro- duced a patented pin which the gar- ment industry finds much safer to use. The pin machinery was designed in the factory. Pins made by this com- pany are used by most of the leading shirt manufacturers. Several of the well known chain stores are supplied with Winsted-made pins in papers. The company supplies a substantial share of the national consumption of paper pins used by the retail trade. The business has become one of Winsted's most substantial industries.
George S. Light is secretary and general manager of the company. The directors are George S. Light. Mrs. Atala Light. William J. Reid of Hart- ford, of the Phoenix State Bank & Trust Co., Howard A. Light and T. H. Bronson.
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THE WINSTED TERCENTENARIAN
The American Knife Company
THE American Knife Co., manufac- turers of pocket cutlery and paring knives on Lake Street, in the former Benjamin Richards & Company fac- tory, was organized in February. 1920. by former employes of the Empire Knife Co. The company started busi ness in the chair factory and moved to the preesnt location in 1932. having greater water power and more room. A fine grade of pocket knives is made. The company employs a dozen hands.
The officers are : President and treas- urer, Irving Manchester; vice-presi- dent, assistant treasurer and general manager, Dominick Russo; secretary; John Russo; superintendent, Felix Russo.
Bronson's Hardware Store
FOR more than two generations Bron- son's Hardware and Furniture store at 385 Main Street, formerly the Al- ford store, has been the headquarters for builders, and general hardware, sporting goods, paints and furniture. In the past few years this old Winsted landmark has undergone such a change under the management of Donald 1. Bronson that old timers would not rec- ognize the place, for a complete new two-story front of plate glass has been built and partitions removed so that it now has the appearance of a modern city hardware store.
The old lines have been expanded and a new line of Herald coal and oil stoves and plumbers' supplies have been added. Bronson's Handles the Universal electric refrigerators. a fine line of farm and lawn implements and a thou- sand and one items in hardware, of which people are in constant need. The second floor is filled with furniture and floor coverings.
This store building dates back be- fore the Civil War. The second story was for a long time the home of the Winsted Herald. Mr. Bronson's father. the late Henry I. Bronson. became a clerk in the store for George II. Al- ford in 1882 when he was a lad of fifteen years and. after being associ- ated with Mr. Alford for twenty-five years, finally purchased the business of the estate and conducted it nutil his death in 1925. since which time Don- ald Bronson has managed it for him- self and mother.
Being in the heart of the city. it is one of the best locations iu Winsted and adds greatly to the appearance of Main Street. Bronson's is well known over a large area.
Third Bay, Highland Lake, and Laurel Field
The Clinton Studio
GREAT advances have been made in photography the past two decades, which is the time Clinton E. Ford, pro- prietor of the Clinton Studio at 462 Main Street has been engaged in pho- tography. beginning the day after the Fourth of July in 1915. Mr. Ford opened his studio in Winsted May 22. 1922, having purchased the business of E. Frank Madden.
The Clinton Studio has built up a very successful business in making por- traits. general and commercial pho- tography. photo finishing, copying. en- larging. coloring. etc. He has all the newest equipment and has made a life study of photography.
Mr. Ford is a past master of St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 64, of Masons.
George L. Fish, Painter
IN painting or decorating, one of the most essential things is to get re- liable paint and a reliable painter. George L. Fish, whose paint and wall- paper store is at 371 Main Street. op- posite the postoffice, has been in busi- ness in Winsted for thirty-five years and it is because he is reliable and thoroughly understands house painting and interior decorating that he has succeeded so well. He has had some of the largest jobs in town year after year and has a-force of from six to fifteen painters and decorators, giving each job his personal supervision. Mr. Fish was foreman for F. M. Holdridge for ten years before he established his own business. He does work within a radius of twenty-five miles of Winsted.
Path of Winsted Cyclone in 1882, looking East from Orchard Street down Finn Street toward Highland Park. Nine Houses demolished
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THE WINSTED TERCENTENARLAN
Amoco Gasoline Station
NE of the first and best of the modern gasoline stations erected in Winsted is the Amoco Station at Main and Division Streets, of which Peter Maloney is manager. selling Amoco gasoline and oils and having complete equipment for the lubrication of cars. Mr. Maloney is prepared to render prompt and efficient service. On Rowley Street the Amoro Co. has a large bulk gasoline and lubricating and fuel oil station. of which Edward W. Reidy is manager.
It was quite an innovation when the Mexican Petroleum Co. bought the old Rockwell tannery site on Main Street and erected a gasoline station in the Mexican type of architecture about ten years ago. The four-story tannery building erected in 1851 by James S. and John T. Rockwell was taken down in 1928. This is one of Winsted's historic sites. In 1813. Shi- bael Crowe of New Hartford and Ebe- nezer or Horatio Hale erected a car- riage makers' shop which was in oper- ation there until 1830. Mr. Crowe be- ing succeeded by his brother. Heury. then by Crowe & Bandle. Henderson & Ball and others. manufacturing wagons and chaises. For three years. 1823-26. Hinsdale & Dimock manufac- tured pails. tubs and keelers there. In 1830, Coe. Hubbell & Co .. consisting of Samuel Ward Coe. Inman Hubbell and E. Sterling Woodford. all prom- inent citizens. conducted a comtry store and produce business there until 1845 when the firm built and moved to Lawrence's block, opposite the Hotel Beardsley. Mr. Woodford having in the meantime left the business to start for himself.
The brick house on the front of the Amoco lot which was taken down to make room for the gasoline station was built in 1825 by Col. Hosea Hinsdale and Ichabod Loomis, one end being or- cupied by Col. Hinsdale as a leather store and the other end by Mr. Loomis as a liquor grocery. the first in town. It was damaged by fire in 1827. during which a keg of powder exploded. but the building was restored.
Looking north from Winchester Soldiers' Memorial Park. Left. Litchfield County Hospital: right. William L. Gilbert Home; top, Second Cobble. 1.200 feet
Molly's Hat Shop and Men's Cut-Rate Shop
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T 460 Main Street there are two stores in one: Molly's Hat Shop. the ladies' department for millinery and dresses, of which Mrs. H. A. Gross- man is in charge. and the Men's Cut Rate Shop. with a general line of men's furnishings. in charge of Mr. Grossman. The Grossmans have lived here ten years.
Molly's Hat Shop was established in 1928 and the Men's Cut Rate denart- ment in September. 1934. the two being housed in Manchester's block. The plan works nicely and is much appreciated 'by the public for the aim is to sell ouality merchandise at very reasonable prices. having the advantage of large bnving facilities. Nothing but fresh un-to-date stock is displayed. which is the secret of success in modern mer-
The Winsted Steam Laundry
THIE Winsted Steam Laundry. of :1 -which Edward P. Jones is the proprietor, was established in 1888 by Charles M. Dean and was purchased by Mr. Jones in February. 1897. He has enlarged the plant from time to time and installed modern machinery and other apparatus for laundering and cleaning. handling the most delicate fabrics. The laundry serves a wide area and a large number of hands are employed.
Mr. Jones is also a successful funer- al director. the Jones' Memorial ITome. one of the best equipped in the State. being located at 318 Main Street. For thirty-two years he was secretary of the State Board of Examiners of Em- bahners and is chairman of the Nation- al Conference Board.
Hawley's Feed Mill
CHARLES R. HAWLEY. proprie- tor of Hawley's Feed Mill at 12 Lake Street. sells the best quality of cattle and chicken feeds. hay and fer- tilizers and has recently gone into the lumber business. both domestic and western. as well as all kinds of mill work. He is also a representative for the Gar Wood air conditioning installa- tions. Mr. Hawley furnished the Inm- ber for the handsome house being built on Coe Street by Tracy .Indson which will be air conditioned.
Mr. Hawley's feed mill dates back more than sixty years when it was con- ducted by Wing Persons. then by Balch & Platt. Platt & Coe and Moore & Ward. Mr. Hawley purchased the building and business in 1922 and has made a success of it by handling the best products at reasonable prices and giving excellent service.
He has established a gasoline sta- tion in one corner of the old monkey wrench factory. The Boyds had a forge there back in 1823 and in 1851 built a machine shop. Later the Winsted Ilerald had its printing office upstairs for about twenty years. when it was reorganized and became a daily and was moved to Union Hall.
The Hurlbut National Bank
THE HURLBUT BANK. of which the Hurtbut National Bank is the snecesser. was organized March 23. 1854, with the following board of directors: William II. Phelps. Lemuel FrrFort. Caleb J. Camp. John C. Tracy and William Kelsey. Mr. Phelp -. the principal organizer, son of a con- gressman. Dr. Lancelot Phelps. of Colebrook and Barkhamsted. became the first president and continued as its bead until his sudden death. August 25. 1864. at the age of forty-six. He wa- the first warden of the borough of Winsted, an able financier and very public spirited. The Winsted Park is "a monument to his energy and liber- alitv."
The bank was named for Samuel and Lemuel Ilurlbut. prosperons mer- chants, farmers and fine stock breeders of Winchester, who amassed a large fortune and gave $1.000 that their name might be thus perpetuated. Both died within three years of the organiz- ation. The capital of the bank was increased September 15. 1857. from $100.000 to $200.000. to which a sub- scription of stock of $5,000 by the American Deaf and Dumb Asyhim was . added later. The bank was reorganized as a National bank in July. 1865. after the passage of the national banking law.
The presidents since Mr. Phelps have been Rufus E. Holmes. Wilham L. Gilbert. Henry Gav. Arthur L. Clark and William H. Phelps, a grand- son of the first president. for whom he was named. Mr. Phelps entered the bank in 1890 and succeeded Charles B. Holmes as cashier November 2. 1900. and Mr. Clark as president in 1918.
The first cashier was George Al- vord, who remained until November. 1856. The cashiers since then have been Rufus E. Holmes. George W. Phelps, father of the present president. Warren Phelps. a great-great-unele. Charles B. Holmes. Henry Gav. Wil- liam H. Phelps and George L. Smith.
The bank was situated in the Wood- ford block adjoining from 1861 until the present fine hrick and granite build- ing was erected in 1898 on the site par- tially occupied by the old Higley tav- ern or Phillips' livery stable.
The bank has always been a very strong and ably managed institution and it is due to this fact Winsted owes much of its prosperity and growth. The last published statement. June 29. 1935. shows the capital is $205.000; surplus. $102,500. and net undivided profits. $165.449.38.
The present officers are : President. William H. Phelps: vice-president.
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The Hurtbut National Bank
Edward B. Gaylord: cashier. George L. Smith : assistant cashier. Edward F. Mc Ardle: directors. Edward B. Gav- lord, Edward R. Holmes. Edward P. Jones, Joseph A. Norton. William H. Phelps. George L. Smith and Dudley L. Vaill.
The Winsted Tercentenary Celebration
THE Winsted Tercentenary Commit- tee. appointed to take charge of the Tercentenary celebration. was or- ganized by request of the selectmen on March 5. 1935. with representatives named by several organizations, as fol- lows: Dudley L. Vaill. general chair- man. representing the Winchester His- torical Society : Ralph M. Smith. secre- torv. Chamber of Commerce: Mrs. F. Rowland Richards. D. A. R .: Mrs. C. Wesley Winslow. Winsted Woman's Club: Robert E. Gaylord. Manufactur- ers' Association: John E. Lynch. Ki- wanis CIb: Roscoe Benjamin. Rotary Club: Joseph W. Darcey and Frank DeMars. Selectmen: Mrs. Harold Beach. Winchester Grange: Mrs. Jos- enh W. Benbow. American Legion Anxiliary: Sebastian Mndano. Gari- baldi Society: Irving E. Manchester. Litchfield Hills Federation. Mr. Mau- chester was appointed to prepare a publication for the celebration. Many meetings were held.
The week of Angust 25 was selected for the celebration, in which a tour of historic places and a picnic by the D. A. R .. a fireworks celebration by the Italians, a choral concert. an industrial exhibit by the Winsted Manufacturers' Association. a boat race and aquati" carnival. moving pictures of the Ses- qui-Centennial: marking dates of old! houses and historic sites are some of the things planned.
Herman's Men's Shop
TERMAN'S MEN'S SHOP. of H
which Meyer Rosansky is pro- prietor. located at 500 Main Street in the Odd Fellows' block. carries every- thing for men and in the fourteen years since the store was established this shop has built up a reputation for having one of the smartest lines of men's cloth- ing and furnishings in the city and at prices that the people can afford to pay.
It is not only a pleasure to feel that one is well dressed but. business men have learned. it is a stepping stone to «necess. They have also learned that at Herman's they can secure fashion- able clothes and at the same time noi strain their pocketbooks. That Mr. Rosansky understands good merchan- dising is evidenced by his show win- dows which are always attractive with their display of the newest in men's wear.
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