The Clark Brothers Factory No. 2, also known as Clark Brothers Bolt Company, is an industrial complex at 409 Canal Street in
Southington, Connecticut. Built between 1911 and 1918, the complex is a good example of vernacular industrial architecture of the early 20th century, and was home to one of the community's major industrial employers. The complex was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Description and history
The Clark Brothers Factory No. 2 is located in Southington's
Milldale section, on the east side of Canal Street, roughly midway between Burritt Street and
Connecticut Route 322
Route 322 is a state highway in west central Connecticut, running from Wolcott, Connecticut, Wolcott to Southington, Connecticut, Southington.
Route description
Route 322 begins at an intersection with Connecticut Route 69, Route 69 in Wolcott ...
. It is a long and basically linear complex, most of which is sandwiched between the road and a railroad right-of-way that now carries 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 complex consists of eleven buildings, ten of which are connected, and one (a boiler house) that is located across the railroad right-of-way. Notable buildings in the complex include a large manufacturing building with an original sawtooth roof, and a heat-treatment and forge building with a
monitor roof.
The Clark Brothers Company was one of the early industrial concerns in Southington, and was influential in its growth as an industrial community in the second half of the 19th century. In the 1850s they developed specialized equipment for the manufacture of
carriage bolts, a process they eventually automated in its entirety. Originally located in
a factory on South Main Street (since demolished), they had this facility built beginning in 1911, using steam power for the manufacturing processes instead of water. It was expanded during the
First World War, and broadened its production line to include other types of fasteners.
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See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Southington, Connecticut
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Buildings and structures completed in 1911
Buildings and structures in Southington, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut