Hartford, Connecticut
Factory town puts the pieces together in explosive new ways
Late 1800s
WHOSE IDEA WAS IT?
Hartford native Samuel Colt patented his namesake revolver in 1836, but his greatest innovation was introducing mass production to the firearms industry. Skilled machinists and entrepreneurs flocked to Colt’s “college of mechanics” to learn his techniques for making thousands of identical firearms with interchangeable parts. Some applied what they learned from Colt to other industries. Francis Pratt and Amos Whitney founded Pratt & Whitney, producing tools like lathes and drill presses, while Boston entrepreneur Albert Pope moved to Hartford to manufacture his Columbia-brand bicycles and automobiles.
WHY HERE? WHY NOW?
Hartford has always been a center for commerce and transportation. The city started as a trading post for goods shipped first along the Connecticut River and later by railroad. In the 1850s and ’60s, Aetna, Travelers, and other firms were founded to protect the profits of maritime trade, making Hartford the “insurance capital of the world.” With the introduction of mass production using interchangeable parts at the Colt Armory and its neighboring firms, all kinds of products—including firearms, sewing machines, bicycles, and automobiles—were made in Hartford.
HOW WAS IT INVENTED?
Traditionally, making guns had been a craft in which a single gunsmith used hand tools to create and assemble every part of a musket—“lock, stock, and barrel.” Around 1850, Samuel Colt introduced a new level of mass production to gun manufacture. Colt factory workers used specialized metalworking machines to shape uniform gun components, turning out 150 firearms per day. “There is nothing that cannot be produced by machinery,” Colt pronounced. Others agreed, and Colt’s techniques transferred to several Hartford industries, including bicycles and sewing machines.
Mark Twain, Inventor
The heady atmosphere of invention permeated the lives of many Hartford residents. For example, author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) based the mechanically gifted hero of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court on Elisha Root, superintendent of the Colt Armory. In real life, Twain earned patents for an adjustable garment strap, a pre-pasted scrapbook, and a board game. Unfortunately, he nearly went bankrupt when he invested in others’ failed inventions. With typical humor, Twain offered this advice: “to succeed in business, avoid my example.”
One Hartford Factory… Several Different Products
At various times, several different products were manufactured under the same Hartford roof! Beginning in 1851, occupants of the factory at 436 Capitol Avenue included Robbins & Lawrence (machine tools); the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company (rifles); the Weed Sewing Machine Company (sewing machines); Hartford Machine Screw (screws); and the Pope Manufacturing Company (bicycles, automobiles).
Workers' Lives
Working with heavy machinery on the factory floor was dangerous, noisy, smelly, and exhausting, with long hours and low pay. To boost morale and maintain a steady workforce, Hartford industrialists Samuel Colt and Albert Pope invested in a number of employee services. “Coltsville” included workers’ housing, baseball fields, a church, and Charter Oak Hall—a gathering place for evening classes, ballroom dances, and rehearsals of the Colt’s Armory Band. Similarly, Pope built workers’ housing and a park adjacent to his Capitol Avenue factory; there he offered employees subsidized hot lunches and a library
