Hidden History: Why Old Forge Road?
by Robert Herron
Town Historian Emeritus
Courtesy Photos
Have you ever noticed that there is no forge on Old Forge Road? There never was one. In fact, until 1966, there was no road known as Old Forge Road in Rocky Hill.
There was a time in the 19th Century when Dividend Brook was the site of a booming industrial center. Today traffic is typically between towns and the most direct route into Rocky Hill center from the south is Main Street, which used to be the Hartford-Saybrook Turnpike.
In the late 19th Century most traffic in this part of town was between the Dividend Brook industrial area and the town. The most direct route into town was Pleasant Valley Road, which joined Old Dividend Road and led to Dividend Road.
As you drive down Main Street south of Old Forge Road you’ll notice several beautiful Italianate homes. Many of these were the homes of industrialists who needed roads where they could walk or ride to their places of business.
There were no automobiles back then; people got around on foot or by using horsepower. Pleasant Valley Road served this purpose by running through the Dividend Brook industrial district.
The main forge on Dividend Brook was the Butler & Sugden Shear Factory built in 1854. They constructed a dam upstream from the foundry site that created a three-acre pond. This dam collapsed in March of 2001. A long sluiceway had to be built to carry water from the pond to power machinery at the foundry.
Butler & Sugden petitioned the town of Rocky Hill to build a road from Old Dividend Road to Middletown Road (Route 99), thus Pleasant Valley Road was laid out and constructed in 1854.
The foundry was named the Pleasant Valley Foundry. It manufactured shears that were reportedly sold all over the United States and Canada. It also produced lamp brackets and miscellaneous hardware.
In 1857 the company patented a single-shot, muzzle-loading pistol. This pistol was cast in one piece after which the barrel was bored out and the frame was then fitted with the trigger mechanism. These pistols were produced at this site.
According to the 1860 Industrial Census, the Pleasant Valley Foundry employed 30 men and four women.
In 1863 Sugden purchased the interest of his partner William Butler for $6,000, including 10 acres with a dwelling house, barns, a sawmill, gristmill and factory buildings that included land covered by a pond. This pond covered about three acres.
Sugden continued in business until Oct. 8, 1865, when the foundry and finishing shops were destroyed by fire. The fire was believed to be the work of an arsonist.
He again went into business with his former partner Butler. They rebuilt the business and in 1868 sold it to Elisha Stevens, a toy manufacturer in Cromwell. Stevens then went into partnership with George Brown, a pattern maker from Forestville, to build the large foundry located on the Connecticut River south of the ferry landing.
In 1884 Charles Billings and George D. Edmunds built a new brick building on the hill south of the Bulkeley dam and operated machinery by a long belt from the mill in the hollow. Manufacturing tools were made here. The small gristmill continued in operation there. Edmunds continued operations at least until the 1890s.
From a photo taken about 1909 it appears the building was still in use. The cement steps from the building down the hillside to the brook are still intact. There also are tool remnants imbedded in cement footings near where the building stood.
Over time, water-powered industries were replaced by those powered by electricity. Industry in Rocky Hill moved to other sites including Belamose Plaza.
Another forge that might have contributed to the name of Old Forge Road was the Charles Billings and George D. Edmunds Forge. Billings later moved his operation to Hartford and formed Billings and Spencer. Billings and Spencer later move to Welland, Ontario.
As you drive along the southern part of Main Street you can’t help but notice the beautiful Italianate houses. Many of these were the homes of industrialists who owned facilities along Dividend Brook. What is not apparent is that the street plan from Main Street to the center of Rocky Hill was much different during this area’s industrial era.
The Butler family built 3295 Main St. and lived there for many years. The Butlers and the associated Sage and Goodrich families were among the first settlers along the Stepney (modern Rocky Hill) and Middletown Upper Houses (modern Cromwell) border.
The Butlers built many of the Italianate houses from 19th Century along Main Street in Rocky Hill. For example, 3330 Main St. was built in 1675 by Joseph Butler and improved by his son Charles in 1760. Charles’s son Stephen Butler died at sea in 1803. In the 19th Century, the Butlers were industrialists along Dividend Brook.
Until 1966, Pleasant Valley Road and Old Dividend Road provided the main avenue into town. Old Forge Road, apparently laid out to ease congestion to and from the Pratt & Whitney facility at the Belamose Complex on Pleasant Valey Road, was completed in 1970 and replaced this thoroughfare.
The stretch, which is now the south end of Dividend Road, was originally an extension that served the Belamose Plaza. Old Dividend Road has been decertified.
In February 2002 the town issued a five-year permit to the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology to pursue an archaeological investigation at the Pleasant Valley Foundry site. Three archaeological digs were held here with members of FOSA.
Two of these digs were for the benefit of the Museum of Natural History and the Connecticut Archaeology Center located at the University of Connecticut. Several of the original shear molds and molds for lamp brackets were recovered during the excavation. Others still remain, along with many other artifacts related to the business.
The site is otherwise untouched. Many of these artifacts can be viewed at the Rocky Hill Historical Society.
The Town Council voted to discontinue maintenance on Old Dividend Road in 2011. The street, which is no longer used, was conveyed to the owners of adjoining properties on both sides of the abandoned stretch of road. RHL