From Dave Brigham:
As often happens with me, I've had Norwood, Mass., in the back of my head for a long time, since driving through the town of roughly 31,000 residents once many years ago. I wrote recently about a former mill in the town that's been transformed for a variety of uses, from antique stores and a performance venue, to recording and artist studios (see October 29, 2022, "Bombing Around a Former Norwood Mill").
Officially formed in 1833 once it split off from the "mother town" of Dedham, Norwood was for many years a printing industry town. With that in mind, in this post I will look at the remnants of those factories. In a subsequent post, I will review downtown Norwood and other areas, discussing a cool diner and other restaurants/bars; an amazing theater; a fantastic bowling center; a former jail; a riverside walk; a one-time synagogue and much more.
I continue to be amazed by just how many old mill towns there are in eastern Massachusetts, never mind the entire state. As for Norwood, "[b]y the early 1900s [it] was come to be thought of as the 'printing center of the United States,'" according to the Norwood Historical Society. "Not only did they have two large printing companies and a small printing firm, but there was also a tannery that supplied leather for book covers and a company that made printing ink for newspapers and a company that manufactured cloth for book covers."
The old Norwood Press complex is located along Washington Street, south of downtown and hard by the railroad tracks.
Currently home to an Extra Space Storage facility and other businesses, this set of buildings was once home to three companies that each owned a one-third share in Norwood Press, which was a real estate holding company, according to the historical society.
"The Norwood Press first opened its doors in January of 1895," per the historical society. "At that time J. S. Cushing & Co (compositors) and Berwick and Smith (printers) were the only companies that moved into the new facility and began printing books. However, they still needed a bookbinder partner to come join them in Norwood; without one, all the printed pages would have to be shipped out to be bound....In 1897, the Norwood Press completed an addition to their Washington Street facility, and bookbinders, E. Fleming & Co., moved in. Now a book could be manufactured in one place, a novel idea at the time."
(I like that Extra Space has updated the clock on the old factory.)
The three companies had a good run for several decades, but by the mid-1950s it was over. "The Norwood Press had some of their best years before World War II, the height being in the 1920s," per the historical society. "After WWII, the press experienced declining production and operating shortages. In early 1952, management and labor could not agree on a contract, especially relating to procedures for machine operation that would reduce costs. In April the Norwood Press shutdown (sic), in October Berwick & Smith was dissolved, and in 1954 C. B. Fleming and J.S Cushing & Co. were dissolved on the same day."
Across Washington Street is the former site (I think; possibly it was where Frank's Food Mart and gas station are now) of Ambrose Press and the Norwood Messenger, the latter a newspaper published by the former. Ambrose was in business from the late 1890s into the 1970s, per the Norwood Historical Society.
The Norwood assessor's office indicates that the warehouse was built in 1954. The Environmental Protection Agency lists the site as a Superfund site for Ambrose Press.
Half a mile away, on the eastern side of the train tracks, once stood the Plimpton Press. The massive complex was torn down in recent years, to make for the Avalon Norwood apartment development. What's left is a smokestack and a remnant of railroad tracks.
I really wish I'd explored Norwood before this was demolished. To see photos of the mill being razed, check out the Norwood Then and Now blog.
Herbert and Howard Plimpton founded their company in Boston in 1882, according to Norwood Then and Now. In 1897, the Norwood Business Association convinced the Plimpton Press to move to its town. "The location was so successful," according to the blog, "[Herbert] closed the Boston plant in 1904, added an addition to [the] Norwood plant and moved the rest of his business to Norwood." The company reached its pinnacle in the 1950s, when it employed 1,200 workers.
"Like the competing press in town, the Norwood Press, the Plimpton Press began by producing school textbooks," per Norwood Then and Now. "Eventually to offset the seasonal nature of textbook printing, the press expanded into religious books, fiction and deluxe editions of classic novels."
The plant closed in 1973. The complex was used as warehouse spaces for many years after. According to MACRIS, the complex was also known as the Howard Woodworking Company and the Paine Furniture Warehouse.
Directly across Plimpton Avenue from the Avalon development, to the south, is the Print Lofts apartment building.
I'm not sure whether this building was part of Plimpton Press or not, but I'm sure happy it's been rehabbed into apartments rather than torn down to make way for them.
This building might also have been part of Holliston Mills, another printing company that was located on Lenox Street.
Before I get to a former roofing and flooring mill complex in the south of Norwood, I want to mention the Morrill Ink Works along Pleasant Street, remnants of which still stand but which I did not photograph.
Located just south of the Neponset River, the Morrill complex was in business from the late 19th century into the early 1970s. "They started out making just black ink, around 1874 they began to make colored ink," according to the Norwood Historical Society. "By 1890, the company had enlarged its Norwood facilities to fourteen buildings. Then in 1894, the Norwood plant was totally rebuilt and new buildings added in order to meet their sales demands. In 1904 they added a new building to make dry colors that are needed for the manufacturing of colored inks, and the following year another building was constructed to handle the making of colored ink, and they retooled the facility again in 1914. By 1910 it was said they were the largest producer of printing ink in the United States and over twelve million newspapers used George H. Morrill ink daily....For over eighty-five years the Morrill ink works had been a family run business, employing five generations of Morrills. In 1929 they sold the company, and it became part of The General Printing Ink Company, and in 1972, they stopped manufacturing ink in Norwood."
I wanted to make photos of the buildings that remain from the old Morrill complex. Honestly, I couldn't find a decent place to park, so I gave up. There, I said it.
OK, let's get to the Norwood Space Center.
Comprised of more than two dozen buildings, this site "was originally owned by Bird & Sons, who operated a paper mill in Walpole in 1838 and launched a roofing company in Norwood that expanded to a floor covering plant by the early 1900s," according to this April 2016 New England Real Estate Journal article about the site's redevelopment.
Not all of the buildings have been repurposed. The ones that have include "a mix of retail, commercial, creative, and entertainment space," per the Norwood Space Center web site. "The spaces range from small artist studios to large commercial suites and everything in between. Our core workspace is occupied by WORKBAR, a remote work solution providing open and shared co-work space along with private office options."
Tenants include Irish Brewing Boston, which brews beer and roasts coffee on-site....
(Exterior of Irish Brewing Boston.)
...Salvage Angel, which sells clothing and home goods....
(Exterior of Salvage Angel.)
...Magic Room, an intimate music and entertainment venue.
(Exterior of Magic Room, which formerly operated out of Boston's Brighton neighborhood.)
I wish I lived a little closer to this place, since it has places I would love to frequent. What really grabbed me about the Space Center, however, were the gritty details around the edges.
(The stone below the middle window has this inscription: "1795-1923." That gives you an idea of how long this site has been in use for industry of one sort or another.)
The warehouse-sized building behind Magic Room has a few broken windows at street level. I poked my head through one and learned what these old mills look like before they get redeveloped.
Regular readers know I don't trespass and go on urbex adventures, so for me this was quite a stunning sight.
Make sure to check back for the third and final post about Norwood, covering the downtown area and other features.
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