Florence Downtown

Introduction

The village we know now as Florence has seen life as an agricultural area, a thriving industrial center, and a lively business district catering to every need of its residents. We can still see this deep history in the buildings along Main, South Maple, and North Maple streets. 

Scroll to the bottom of the page to take our virtual tour of Florence Downtown.

Background

In 1657, three years after the founding of Northampton, the town set off the land of Florence as the “Inner Commons” devoted to agricultural use. A sawmill was erected at the falls on the Mill River in 1681 and the first bridge over the river was built in 1733. The village, called Broughton’s Meadow, grew slowly. By 1820, the population of the community had only reached 50 people.

Although some light industry emerged in the 18th century, it wasn’t until the 19th century that Florence started to flourish as a manufacturing center. The 1830s saw the burgeoning of the silk industry, initially from 1832 to 1841 by Samuel Whitmarsh, who hoped to manufacture goods from domestically produced silk. 

The Northampton Association of Education and Industry (1843–47) attracted utopian thinkers and abolitionists to the village. They, too, were involved in silk production from 1842 to 1846 in the interest of providing an alternative to the cotton derived from slave labor in the southern states. The factories producing silk thread were located along the Mill River, south of the junction with Pine Street. The “old mill road,” which connected Elm Street with the mill, was the location of Florence’s first business district as well as the residences of African American and native Irish families. After the Nonotuck Silk Mill was built in 1855 next to the dam, the “old mill road” was renamed Nonotuck Street. 

The manufacture of silk thread, predominantly in the factories of Belding and Corticelli, continued in Florence and Northampton until 1932, when their plants were closed. McCallum (later Propper-McCallum), a manufacturer of hosiery, switched from silk to nylon in 1936 and continued production in several locations until the 1950s. Their plant at the corner of Locust Street and Straw Avenue (just south of where our walk begins) closed in 1948. 

The village was also the birthplace of one of the first American factories to manufacture plastic, starting in 1843, when A.P. Crichlow began producing a new substance known as the “Florence Compound,” a thermoplastic composition made of shellac, wood fibers, and a coloring agent. The Florence Manufacturing Company—incorporated in 1866 as successors to Littlefield, Parsons and Company—manufactured daguerreotype cases, also known as union cases, made of the Florence Compound.

As the daguerreotype became obsolete, the Florence Manufacturing Company adapted the thermoplastic composition to the manufacture of hair brushes, hand mirrors, and military brushes. In 1885, the Florence Manufacturing Company signed an agreement with Meyer L. Rhein, M.D., D.D.S. of New York City to manufacture, vend, and advertise the “Prophylactic Tooth Brush,” for which Rhein was awarded a patent in 1884. The Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Tooth Brush became the company’s most famous product and, in 1924, the Florence Manufacturing Company changed its name to the Pro-Phy-Lac-Tic Brush Company. By 1929, it was the largest manufacturer of toothbrushes in the world.

The population of Bensonville, as Florence was known in the early 19th century, grew with the influx of factory workers, families, and a mercantile class. In 1852, the residents voted unanimously to change its name to Florence and the village was granted its own post office.

By 1867, the population had reached 2,000. And that year the railroad arrived, opening transportation links for the various goods being produced in Florence’s factories and mills. The tracks in Florence ran parallel to Main Street and North Main Street. North Maple Street became the focus of railroad-oriented industry, including a depot, and the business district shifted from Nonotuck Street to what is now Main Street. The buildings on our virtual walking tour were primarily constructed during the boom that followed the introduction of the railroad.