Norwood Engineering Building

28 – 34 North Maple Street, Florence, MA

The Norwood Engineering building was built around 1870, originally housing the Sheffield Manufacturing Company. Beginning in 1892, the building would be the site of the Norwood Engineering Company. In 1947, the company filed for bankruptcy and the building has served several different purposes since.

The Beginnings

The first buildings erected on this site were put up about 1870 for Sheffield Manufacturing Company, which proposed to convert iron into a metal resembling steel. The attempt was a failure, however, and the buildings were soon after purchased by B.M. Couch, who used them for a foundry and machine shop. After Mr. Couch went out of business, A.G. Hill continued the shop as the Arthur Hill Machine Company for a few years.

A photograph of the back of the old Norwood Engineering building. The building is red brick and covered in ivy. — Exterior of the back of Norwood Engineering Company, Florence, MA.

In 1892, the Norwood Engineering Company was formed. This company took over the existing works and continued the general foundry and machine business. The building complex is made up of three buildings. The oldest section, fronting on North Maple Street, was built between 1884 and 1895. The first addition to this building is at the northeast corner; it was built between 1895 and 1902. Between 1902 and 1910, two more additions were made to the building, both fronting on North Maple Street. The second building, dated c. 1873, contained a factory, boiler room, and chimney. Between 1903 and 1930, this building got brick and concrete additions of one or two stories. Then, c. 1960, a large corrugated-metal structure was erected, which doubled the size of the building. The third building is a garage/office containing three garage bays with roll-up doors.

A black-and-white photograph of a toddler or very young boy working in the Norwood Engineering building. He is looking toward the camera man while holding on to large machinery. — Leland S. Clark, son of Chas. Clark, Engineer at Norwood Engineering Company, working with machinery, 1908. Photograph by Robert Emrick. Courtesy of Forbes Library (ID no. EM 4232).

Labor Union Strikes

In 1902, Norwood Engineering was the site of one of the earliest labor union strikes in Northampton. At that time, the Norwood workers had formed four unions, representing molders, metal workers, blacksmiths, and machinists, but management did not recognize the machinists’ union. The strike action started when the foreman of the machine shop, J. L. Doppman, was fired, allegedly for inability to fill orders on time. The union disputed this account, seeing it instead as an attempt to crush the machinists’ organizing effort.

The strike began on October 7, 1902, when 40 machinists walked off the job. They were later joined by members of the other three unions. The unions’ demands were that Doppman be reinstated, that the machinists’ union be recognized, and that Norwood reduce the work day from 10 to nine hours, with no reduction in pay. A benefit dance was held on October 17 at the Temperance Hall on Pine Street to support the striking workers, with over 1,000 tickets sold.

Black-and-white photograph showing machinery in Norwood Engineering Company. The type of machinery is unknown, but many visible gears and wheels. — Machinery in Norwood Engineering Company, c. early 20th century. Photograph by Robert Emrick. Courtesy of Forbes Library (ID no. FL 17).

By October 24, it seemed that the dispute had been settled, after mediation by Reverend P. H. Galen of the Annunciation Parish, but the agreement lasted only three days. A second walkout ensued, after returning strikers found that their positions had been given to scabs who had been hired during the first strike. Newspaper reports of the subsequent end of the strike are unclear, with one article stating the workers had given up their action by October 28 with Norwood refusing to agree to the strikers’ demands. However, a later Gazette article, dated April 13, 1903, stated “The news that the Norwood works would start today on a 9-hour day basis came as a surprise to the men at the shop, as well as to the strikers who are out. The 9-hour plan was what the strikers asked for when they went out, but the company refused to grant it at that time and now they will give it to their present employees.” The National Machinists’ Union continued to list Norwood as an “unfair firm” until at least 1905.

The Fate of Norwood Engineering

Photograph of a red fire hydrant placed on the grass. The top of the hydrant reads: "NORWOOD ENGINEERING, CO. [not legible]... FLORENCE 1888[?]" — Fire hydrant made by the Norwood Engineering Company still standing in Northampton, MA.

By 1929, the company occupied nearly 15 acres and employed 200 individuals. Their specialty was designing, manufacturing, and installing water purification or filtration plants for towns, cities, and large manufacturers. Norwood also manufactured fire hydrants and acquired the Holyoke Hydrant and Iron Works in 1896. Fire hydrants with “Norwood Engineering Co., Florence Mass” and “The Holyoke” cast into the top can still be seen around Northampton and throughout New England. The Norwood Engineering Company went out of business during the Depression of the 1930s and declared bankruptcy in 1947.

Waterfalls Paper Mills company of Watertown, NY, acquired the building and subsequently sold it in 1950 to the New England Fire Door company of Hadley for approximately $30,000. In 1974 it was sold to Smith College professor William Arnold. Since that time, the complex has housed numerous small businesses, artists, and professionals, including Abba Motors, Papa Joe’s Guitar Heaven, Nonotuck Aikido, Second Story Leather Shop, Forte Printing T-Shirts, and The Furniture Maker. The Ross Brothers (Robert & Hank) bought the building in 1986 and ran an antiques shop, specializing in vintage canoes, furniture, and architectural salvage, from 1987 to 2005 at 28 North Maple. Salmon Studios, an architectural metal fabrication company, has operated from 28 North Maple since 1998. In 2005, the building was sold to Robert Lawton, who further subdivided the interior into artists’ studios, offices, and retail space.