Ames Manufacturing Company

Ames Manufacturing Company

Ames Privilege
Location Chicopee, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°8′57″N 72°36′24″W / 42.14917°N 72.60667°W / 42.14917; -72.60667Coordinates: 42°8′57″N 72°36′24″W / 42.14917°N 72.60667°W / 42.14917; -72.60667
Built 1847
Architect McClallan,Charles
Architectural style Early Republic, Greek Revival, Other
NRHP Reference #

83000734

[1]
Added to NRHP June 23, 1983

Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in blacksmith and founder, Capt. John Ames, who in 1774, made some of the first manufactured shovels in what would emerge as the new, United States of America.

Company history

The Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in a factory established in 1774 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by John Ames, a blacksmith. It was continued by the founder's son by Nathan Peabody Ames (1803-1847) and produced its first swords for the US Government in 1832.[2] A foundry was added, to cast cannon and bells.[3] Nathan and James Ames, sons of John Ames, established a cutlery and tool factory in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts in 1829, which was formally incorporated as the Ames Manufacturing Company in 1834. In addition to producing military equipment for many years, including (in addition to swords) cannons, cannonballs, it also produced sewing machine and bicycle parts in the later 19th century. The company was a major supplier of bicycles to the Overman Wheel Company from 1883-1887.[4]

It is also noted as the foundry where a number of well-known public statues were cast, including large equestrian statues of George Washington (at the Boston Public Garden and in Washington, D.C.), a statue of Benjamin Franklin (Boston), a statue of Major John Mason, and the bronze doors of the United States Capitol. The sword manufacturing business was formally separated into an independent company in 1881.[5]

The historic Ames Company factory, located at 5-7 Springfield Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is a complex of connected industrial buildings, the oldest of which date to 1847. Most of the older elements are brick in construction, and range in height from one to four stories. This complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[1] The largest surviving buildings have been converted into residences.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Harold Leslie Peterson, The American Sword, 1775-1945
  3. ↑ Ames Sword Company history Archived March 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Jendrysik, Stephen. "Stephen Jendrysik: Victor bicycle rode economic rise, fall". Masslive.com. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "MACRIS inventory record for Ames Manufacturing Company". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-09-21.

External links


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