I decided to drive through the town of Springfield to show Stan what the town looked like. The shortest route from RT 91 to Stellafane does not go through town. I thought I would also show him this abandoned factory - you know how much I love to photograph old buildings. The area from Springfield, Vermont down to Hartford, Connecticut which ran along the Connecticut river, was known as "Precision Valley." In the 1850s, the waterpower of the Connecticut River enabled these precision machines to operate and produce consumer goods. In the 20th Century, the machine tool industry in Vermont became a huge sector of our economy. I have been coming to Stellafane for 32 years now, and I think this building has been empty for a good deal of that time.
I thought that the broken window was the most dramatic photograph so I started this post with that image. This gives you an idea of the building and the landscape. I love that a woman was walking up the hill and so I waited for her to be turning the corner so that she was silhouetted against the road.
It is difficult most times, to take a single photograph that will give you the best sense of a subject. And that was certainly the case here.
As you can see here there is more than a single building at this site.
Fortunately, with all the broken windows I could get a photograph of the inside of the lower floor of the building. This is a photograph of a huge metal lathe, which is not a surprise because manufacturing requires heavy duty tools like this. In the distance, on the right is a huge drill press.
In looking at this view of the buildings, from across the river, you can see that the complex is made up of 5 separate buildings stuck together. In the far left side of this photo, there is a black square visible under the last building. I believe that water entered the building somewhere near the center of this photograph, flowed through a turbine and exited down near the black square. The turbine was connected to a belt drive. Originally in these old buildings, the belt was connected to an overhead drive shaft, and from that shaft were other belts which connected to the manufacturing machinery. With so many belts connected to machines which were running you had to be REALLY careful about where your hands and arms were! These were not the days of OSHA where all the belts and shafts needed guards to protect workers.
It is sad that this complex of buildings has been abandoned for such a long time. Do you think it may have to do with being so close to the river and water flowing under the buildings for the purpose it was originally intended for? In this day and age, I would have expected condos to be built. Thanks for all of your information, but I want more moving forward! :-)
ReplyDeleteJoan
The last photo of the buildings along the river looks idyllic compared to the first few. It's sad that the buildings were abandoned. Thank you for all the information about "Precision Valley" and the way water was used to power the machinery. betsey
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to see the photos and your commentary on the history or the scene through a photographer's eye. I liked seeing the last photo of the whole scene which brought all the photos together. The photos made me wonder about the lives of the people who worked there, from the community and with families-probably grueling hours, hard labor and like you said lack of safety regulations. I, too, wonder about the water and its impact on the building. Trace
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