The Blakeslee Forging Company is a historic industrial complex at 100 West Main Street in the
Plantsville area of
Southington, Connecticut. The surviving six buildings, dating to about 1910 or later, were developed for a company founded in 1877 that specialized in
drop forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...
. The buildings are well preserved structures typifying industrial buildings found in Southington from that era. The complex was listed on 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 1988.
Description and history
The Blakeslee Forging Company complex is located on the south side of the central village of Plantsville. It is set well back from the street, behind a municipal parking lot and the former
Pultz & Walkley Company industrial complex. Its largest two buildings form a T, whose top runs parallel to the former railroad right-of-way that now serves as the
Farmington Canal Heritage Trail
The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is an multi-use rail trail located in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The trail was built on former New Haven and Northampton Company (NH&N) (later New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad H railbed, which wa ...
. The top of the T is a two-story brick building, 20 bays long, with industrial Colonial Revival trim elements, while the leg of the T is a longer single-story brick structure with a gabled roof. Also facing the railroad right-of-way, north of those buildings, is a single-story six-bay brick building. Three smaller structures are tucked behind these, between the T and the adjacent buildings to the north.
The Blakeslee Forging Company was founded in 1877 and incorporated in 1896 by Sherman Blakeslee, and first operated in mainly wood-frame buildings built on this site by the Plantsville Manufacturing Company. The company manufactured parts for carriages, and provided custom drop-forging services. Most of the buildings in this complex date to 1912–14, when the older buildings were torn down.
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See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Colonial Revival architecture in Connecticut
Industrial buildings completed in 1912
Buildings and structures in Southington, Connecticut
1912 establishments in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut