Abandoned baby shoe factory in NJ

J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory - West Electronics Company, Burlington City New Jersey

Date added: May 30, 2023 Categories:

Looking southeast at west and north facades (1999)

The Burlington City manufacturing climate into which the J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory was born was one marked by impressive industrial growth in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly for the shoe industry. James Birch established his renowned carriage business in Burlington City in 1862, and J.T. Severns established a large lumber yard and wood factory that same year. Several foundries were established along the riverfront along with a terra cotta factory and ice factory. Two of Burlington City's largest shoe manufacturing interests were established immediately after the close of the Civil War: R.T. Wood & Co. in 1867 and G.W. Lewis & Co. in 1874. By 1875, there were nine documented shoe manufacturers within the city, the majority located in the industrial area of the city, primarily north of East Broad Street and to east of North High Street. Approximately 10% of the entire city population was engaged in some type of shoe manufacturing. The majority of the factories produced women's, children's, and infant shoes. Other prominent shoe manufacturers included Kimble & Weest in 1875, Rogers and Woodington in 1879, T.P. and S.S. Smith in 1881, and W.T. Bunting and Thomas Stokely in the mid-1880s.

In 1884, J. Frank Budd and another gentleman left the Wood factory and started their own shoe enterprise on Delaware Ave. along the banks of the Delaware River. Budd's partner soon retired and it was not long after that Budd moved his business to its current location. Budd entered a market that was competitive yet financially viable. At this point in the late nineteenth century, the shoe industry as a whole had migrated from its center in Massachusetts down through the Mid-Atlantic states and had begun to expand in the Midwest to growing urban areas such as Chicago and St. Louis. New advances in shoe-making technology - such as a sewing machine that could handle the stitching of the leather uppers and soles - brought the efficiency of the factory concept to the forefront and made it the norm rather than the exception. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, most of the small, independent shoemakers had given way to the larger wholesale factories. The Burlington City industries as a whole were producing approximately one million pairs of shoes annually with sales amounting to over $500,000.

In 1887, J.F. Budd broke ground for his children's "shoe-works" at the corner of Penn and Dilwyn Streets in the northeast quadrant of the city. The original factory was a three-story wood frame building that extended primarily along Dilwyn Street with sewing, packing, stock and fitting on the first floor, shoe making on the second floor, and fitting on the third.

On September 7, 1892, the first Budd factory building and nine houses on the block were destroyed by fire. The company immediately rebuilt, and the building which currently stands at the corner of Penn and Dilwyn streets replaced the wood factory which once stood at the same location. The company rebuilt the factory using fireproof brick construction and incorporated design elements typical of late nineteenth-century American factories. The factory was built with a large percentage of its exterior wall space devoted to large windows for lighting and ventilation, a characteristic of both American and English factory buildings. Large monitors positioned along the roof provided additional light to the workers on the third floor who were involved in the critical process of cutting and fitting the leather uppers.

Constructed in a U-shape, the long narrow wings were laid out to take advantage of the long, open expanses needed to accommodate the various types of machinery required for each stage of shoe manufacture. The factory was also arranged to operate as efficiently as possible with the raw materials sent to the top floor and the individual children's shoes made in different stages as they passed through the factory. Cutting and fitting (cutting the leather and preparing the uppers) was located on the third floor, bottoming (attaching the sole to the leather upper) on the second, and packaging and office space on the first floor. The company employed, on average, approximately 325 people. Circa 1900, as documented on the Sanborn maps between 1896 and 1902, the building was expanded with a small addition to the east. This addition increased manufacturing space on each floor and allowed the company to increase its weekly output. The factory operated six days a week for a minimum of ten hours a day.

J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory quickly became one of the three largest shoe manufacturers in Burlington City, in league with R.T. Wood & Co. and G.W. Lewis & Co. The company had its sales and marketing offices headquartered in Chicago and only the one manufacturing plant in Burlington City. A company sales booklet listed markets along the East Coast and throughout the Midwest, including Texas and Louisiana. Billed in its catalogs and advertisements as the "largest baby shoe plant in the world", the J.F. Budd Factory promoted their varied product line through an extensive network of traveling salesmen and catalog mailings. A ca. 1900-1905 undated Budd Company catalog entitled "Budd's Blossoms" highlights at least nine different types of popular kid and slipper shoes in fabrics ranging from silk to velvet in colors including red, brown, blue, and plum. Their basic shoe line for children and infants was a "square" or "opera" slipper that ranged in price from $.60 to $1.25 per pair. They list their more popular styles as the Dongola shoe button or lace with or without the patent leather tip, the Fine Dongola shoe, the Kangaroo Calf button shoe, the "Viscol" kid slipper, the Dull Dongola shoe, and the Nevils Olive kid slipper.

The J.F. Budd baby Shoe Factory continued to grow physically and financially through the first two decades of the twentieth century. By 1910, R.T. Wood & Co. and G.W. Lewis & Co. were still Budd's biggest competitors, there were eight smaller shoe manufacturers, and there were still seven independent shoemakers living within the city limits. With a population over 10,000, Burlington City made great improvements to the city's public works; upgrades in the transportation routes between Burlington City and major metropolitan ports continued to make Burlington City one of South Jersey's more important industrial centers. At the turn of the century, approximately 15% of the city's working population was employed in some type of shoe business. The Budd Factory was the largest in Burlington City employing over 325 people compared to the R.T. Wood & Co. which employed only 280.

The early twentieth century witnessed changes in the shoe industry on both regional and national levels as the market changed. In New Jersey, factories closed and moved from the smaller cities into larger regional manufacturing centers like Newark, Patterson, and Camden. The heart of the industry remained in Massachusetts, but more and more companies relocated to the Midwest and Pacific Coasts. By the mid-twentieth century, all of the shoe manufacturers had left Burlington City, and there were only approximately twenty-seven companies in all of New Jersey.

By 1918, the factory was already in decline as several former Budd employees left the Budd Company and started the Burlington Turn Shoe Company for the manufacture of high-grade children's and infant shoes that were primarily sent to the Pacific Coast. After the closing of the J.F. Budd Factory in ca. 1920, the building served a number of different companies until the Dubrow Electronic Equipment Co. bought the property in the early 1950s. In the early 1970s, West Electronics Company purchased and occupied the building until the late 1980s when the facility was vacated in favor of a new location.

Building Description

Constructed in 1892 and expanded ca. 1900, the J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory is a large, three-story brick industrial building at the corner of Dilwyn and Penn Streets in Burlington City. It is situated amongst late nineteenth and early twentieth-century residential properties along the Delaware River, a neighborhood that forms a section of the northern boundary of the city. This sparsely-detailed historic factory building has a modified "U"-shaped plan with a late twentieth-century concrete block addition in the interior courtyard. Its stark exterior brick walls, dominated by regularly spaced bays of windows, have little ornamentation, a condition typical of turn-of-the-century industrial buildings. The interior of the building reflects its industrial heritage with open manufacturing and office spaces. The property is in poor condition but retains a high degree of integrity as the only surviving historic shoe factory building in Burlington City.

The J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory is situated on the southern two-thirds of its .54 acre parcel, which is defined by Penn Street to the south, Dilwyn Street to the west, Pearl Boulevard to the North, and St. Mary's Street to the east. It is located within a residential neighborhood, and is bordered to the east by small frame houses and by a parking lot to the north. The south and west facades are bordered by the sidewalks, and the rear elevation is shielded from Pearl Street by tall trees. Currently, the building follows a modified "U"'-shaped plan, with the main (south) facade twenty-two bays long, the west elevation fifteen bays wide, the east elevation seven bays long, and the rear (north) elevation's nineteen bays broken by access to the courtyard (see site plan). Because of the modified "U-shaped floor plan, the building is naturally divided into distinct wings: the south wing along Penn Street, the west wing along Dilwyn Street, the north wing along the parking lot, and a short east wing at the end of the south wing.

The plan of the original 1892 building is a "U"-shape with the interior courtyard facing west. The north elevation and south facade were equal in length and contained approximately thirteen bays. The ca. 1900 addition was added to the east of the Penn Street (south) wing and consisted of a large square block ten bays wide along Penn Street with seven bays extending along the east elevation. With the completion of the ca. 1900 addition, the building reached its existing plan and dimensions. A one-story concrete block addition from the mid-twentieth century occupies the entire courtyard space and another extends along the first floor of the northwestern corner of the rear (north) elevation.

Rising three full stories from its stone foundation, the J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory is defined by its expansive brick walls laid in a running bond and the many bays of two-over-two wood windows that dominate each elevation. The building is finished with a hipped asphalt roof that supports six tall hipped-roof wood monitors that are positioned along the ridge. Currently, these monitors are covered with wood boards; originally, they featured six two-over-two windows per unit. Little ornamentation accents this former industrial facility. Aside from the arched brick headers above the windows, decoration is limited to a few courses of brick corbelling which functions as the cornice. The various elevations are identical to each other, save for the presence of entrances and the large smokestack near the northeastern corner of the rear (north) elevation. Although the existing building was constructed in two different phases, the phases are not distinguishable as such. The brick bond, ornamentation, and window types are uniform throughout the building, giving it the appearance of simultaneous construction.

There are six entrances for this building. The original main entrance leading to the office is located in aa the 1892 section of the building in the southwest corner of the south facade. It features a contemporary steel door set into a steel frame with the original three-lite wood transom above. A hipped shed roof extends over the concrete stoop and features chamfered wood supports and an open spindle cornice. A second entrance on the south facade is located in the southeast corner in the ca. 1900 section of the building and is recessed several feet in a large arched opening. The door itself is steel set into a wood frame with a three-lite wood transom above. On the north elevation, two entrances are located in the loading dock area created by a modern concrete addition, and are not original to the building. A former delivery entrance is located in the center of the west elevation and a second-floor doorway is located on the courtyard's east elevation; both of these openings are in the original 1892 building and are no longer operable because they are boarded up.

On the interior, the J.F. Budd Baby Shoe Factory reflects the utilitarian, functional atmosphere of an early twentieth-century industrial facility. Generally, it lacks detail as on the exterior, and features both original and modern changes to the use and function of the building. The building is constructed with masonry load-bearing walls and heavy timber framing elements on all floors. The first floor is divided into several different types of workspaces that are all accessed through a central east/west corridor in the south wing and through a north/south corridor in the west wing. The south wing has elements of the original 1892 construction to the west, and the ca. 1900 addition to the east. Two sets of stairs, the main stair in the center of the west wing and a secondary stair along the eastern wall, facilitate access through the building along with a freight elevator in the center of the west wing. On the first and third floors, the main stair is encased in vertical board walls and drywall on the second floor. The secondary stair, which is located in the ca. 1900 addition, is enclosed within drywall on all floors.

The original manufacturing offices are in the 1892 section of the building and located in the southwest corner of the first floor immediately inside the main entrance. The offices occupy most of the west wing. These spaces are defined by vertical and horizontal board walls and ceilings, simple window and door trim, and wood floors. The walls that line the corridor between the main entrance and the main stair feature fixed windows and narrow vertical board sheathing. The remainder of the south wing is divided into large manufacturing spaces by drywall partitions in between wood columns that span the length of the rooms. As on the exterior, the 1892 and ca. 1900 section of the south wing are indistinguishable. The rooms are characterized by a combination of historic and modern materials such as wood and vinyl tile floors and plaster, brick, and wallboard-covered walls. Plaster, board, and wallboard forms the ceiling throughout the building. In one section within the 1892 building, an area of the original board ceiling survives and features narrow vertical boards that extend from each edge to meet at a center square; each of the five sections is marked by wider boards with decorative blocks at their intersections. Simple wood trim frames the window and door openings throughout the building. The north wing, including both the original 1892 building and the modern 20^th century courtyard addition, is divided into light manufacturing spaces marked by rows of wood columns. These rooms are very similar to the other manufacturing spaces on the first floor and feature vinyl tile and wood floors, and plaster and drywall partitions and ceilings.

The second floor reflects some modern improvements, distinguishable by the drywall partitions, carpeting, and dropped ceilings. It has been subdivided into different types of workspaces, often along the straight lines of structural wood columns. With the exception of the large room in the northwestern corner, this floor was primarily used as administrative and meeting space. The former conference or cafeteria room was located in the northeastern corner and is finished with modern wood paneled walls and a vinyl tile floor. The northwestern corner of the building was likely used as light manufacturing space. This large room has both wallboard and painted brick walls, wallboard ceilings, and tile and carpeted floors. As on the first floor, simple wood trim around the window provides the only original ornamentation on this floor.

The third floor is largely unaltered. It is primarily open space with only one drywall partition wall in the east wing (the ca. 1900 addition) and wood supports along the center of each wing. The space is characterized by wood board floors with the slats laid on the diagonal, exposed brick walls, simple wood trim around the windows, and board ceilings. Attic space above this floor is occupied by the roof trusses and provides access to the roof monitors.

Historically, the J. F. Budd Baby Shoe factory operated with steam for the power and heat, electric lighting, and coal for fuel. While no original equipment survives, typically steam-powered a system of leather belts that powered individual manufacturing machinery. The ubiquitous factory plan of large open floors lit and ventilated by large windows allowed for a flexibility in placement and design of the machinery and processes necessary for wholesale shoe manufacture. Based on standards established in England and Massachusetts, the seat of American shoe manufacturing, the factory was arranged to operate as efficiently as possible.

Raw materials were shipped to the top floor and the shoes were assembled piece by piece as they moved down through the building, probably on some type of gravity conveyor belt system. In the J.F. Budd factory, the top floor was used for cutting the leather uppers and fitting them over the wood lasts, or molds. The partially assembled unit then traveled to the second floor for bottoming, where the heavy leather soles were sewn to the body of the shoe. The first floor, with its easy transportation access, was used for packing, stock, and office space.