Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools and cutlery in

Chicopee, Massachusetts Chicopee ( ) is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 55,560, making it the second-largest city in Western Massachusetts after Springfield. C ...

, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a major provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. They also cast a number of bronze statues which can be found throughout New England.

Company history

Ames manufacturing company Chicopee Massachusetts woodcut

The Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in a factory established in 1774 in

Chelmsford, Massachusetts Chelmsford () is a town in Massachusetts that was established in 1655. It is located northwest of Boston. The Chelmsford militia played a role in the American Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. ...

by the Ames family. Brothers Nathan P. Ames Jr. and James T. Ames moved their tool and cutlery business to a new industrial town on the

Chicopee River The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wate ...

near

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

in 1829. They were invited by Edmund Dwight, who owned textile mills nearby. The Ames company soon moved to manufacturing swords for the federal government and state militias. As the town of Chicopee was formed in 1848, the Ames brothers were leaders in the new community. Upon the death of Nathan P. Ames in 1847, ownership of the company turned to younger brother James Tyler Ames.

Iron and bronze foundries

Minuteman by Daniel Chester French Ames foundry mark

By 1835, the company was creating works in brass and bronze, and in 1845, an iron foundry was added. The company used the foundries for casting statuary as well for producing as military cannons and cannonballs. The bronze doors of the East Wing of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

and

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...

's Minuteman statue at the Lexington-Concord bridge were cast at the Ames company. Other statues included large equestrian statues of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

(at the

Boston Public Garden The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park in the Downtown Boston, heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common. It is a part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks, and is bounded by Charles Street (Bosto ...

and in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

), a statue of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

(

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

), and a statue of Major John Mason. When the Mexican War came, the foundry's primary output switched to armament.

Civil War

Upon the secession of the South and the formation of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, the Union lost access to its southern arsenals. Therefore, independent arms manufacturers were crucial to the success of the Union army. Ames was one of the Union's most important manufacturers of side arms, swords, and light artillery, and the third largest producer of heavy ordnance.

Post-war diversification and decline

In addition to producing military equipment for many years, including (in addition to swords) cannons, cannonballs, it also produced sewing machine and bicycle parts in the later 19th century. The company was a major supplier of bicycles to the

Overman Wheel Company Overman Wheel Company was an early bicycle manufacturing company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1882 to 1900. It was known for bicycles of higher quality and lower weight than other bicycles of its time. Despite a nationwide bicycle craze in ...

from 1883-1887. The sword manufacturing business was formally separated into an independent company in 1881. By 1907, the Ames foundries had been purchased by Chicopee's A.G. Spalding Company.

Surviving buildings

The historic Ames Company factory, located at 5-7 Springfield Street in

, is a complex of connected industrial buildings, the oldest of which date to 1847. Most of the older elements are brick in construction, and range in height from one to four stories. This complex was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983. The largest surviving buildings have been converted into residences.

References

External links

Stearns-Ames collection, (ca. 1838-1894)
in the Smithsonian

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...