From Dave Brigham:
Before exploring Collinsville, CT, earlier this year, I think the last (and only) time I'd been there was in the early 1980s when my sister lived in an apartment in the village. Hard to believe, considering that I grew up a 15-minute drive east-northeast from this part of Canton, hard by the Farmington River.
As you can tell from these photos, each of the two times I swung through the 'Ville, it was gloomy. Raining the first time, cool and cloudy (with rain later in the day) the second. Nevertheless, I was quite charmed by the village, which I'd seen pictures of in various places online over the years, leading to my decision to finally get off my duff and check it out.
While there are many great buildings with local businesses along Main Street and the side streets, I focused on the former factory of The Collins Company, which for 140 years manufactured axes, hatchets, machetes and other sharp tools.
The company’s founders, brothers Samuel and David Collins, were born into a wealthy family, according to this ConnecticutHistory.org article. "Their father, Alexander Collins, was a lawyer in Middletown and their mother Elizabeth was from the well-to-do mercantile Watkinson family of Hartford. When Alexander died in 1815, his widow moved the family to Hartford. Samuel was 24 years old and David age 21 when they decided to open an axe factory with their cousin William Wells. The Collins & Company factory opened in 1826 with the purchase of an old gristmill and a few acres of land along the Farmington River in Canton."
The company thrived for decades, selling its products around the country and the world. The brothers built dams along the Farmington River, expanded the number of buildings in their manufacturing plant, constructed worker housing, a Congregational church, a bank and other buildings for the community. The company also "secured a rail line for Collinsville to transport [its] goods and material by offering the railroad company a right of way through company land, a depot, and $3,000," according to the ConnecticutHistory article.
As you can see, the former factory's buildings are quite photogenic. The company was in business until 1966, having suffered a tough business environment after the devastating 1955 flood that hit Connecticut.
These days, there are businesses in some of the old mill buildings, including Antiques on the Farmington, a multi-dealer shop; TOOWi Wellness; a hair salon called Milkweeds; Almost Home Studio, which specializes in family and pet portraiture and landscape paintings; and Downright Music, a music school.
The old factory complex spreads across multiple buildings along the Farmington River. You can get great views from the bike path that runs through part of the complex, located along the old railroad right-of-way.
There are opportunities aplenty for urbexers who want to trespass and risk life and limb. But you know me - that ain't my thing.
Whenever I explore around an old mill complex, I wonder whether there's a redevelopment plan. A company called Ranger Properties indicates on its web site that it has reached an agreement to buy the old Collins factory. "The restoration plans for the historic site [call for] more than 200 apartments and a commercial hub that dominates the Collinsville section of Canton on a 20-acre river-front property," per the web site. "The plan is to refurbish 23 of the 25 decaying brick buildings, construct several new apartment buildings, add a partly underground parking garage, and create a public river walk and plaza along the Farmington River."
Stay tuned....
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