Pipe Tobacco and Cigarettes were Made in this VA Building Until 1985

Model Tobacco Factory, Richmond Virginia

Date added: December 29, 2024

Categories:
Virginia
Industrial

Factory Building, north and east elevations (2018)

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Tobacco had been an important part of Virginia's and Richmond's history since the seventeenth century. With English colonist John Rolfe's successful cultivation of a strain of tobacco that was more palatable to Europeans than previous renditions, it became the major export of the Virginia colony. Much of this tobacco was consumed by "drinking" the smoke from a pipe. The pipes' fragility eventually led to its decline so that by the nineteenth-century pipes were being replaced by cigars and cigarettes as preferred methods of intake, though eventually more hardy pipes also would be created. Additionally, chewing tobacco, which was made by mixing molasses with tobacco leaves, became an important form of consumption in the United States.

As the cigarette became more popular in Europe, tobacco users in the United States also began adopting them; this increased with the invention of the cigarette rolling machine in 1881. The first "modern" cigarette, Camel, was introduced in 1913.

Richmond took part in the tobacco industry early on with its inspection stations and warehouses. Throughout the eighteenth century, the city became an important commercial center, chiefly because of the tobacco trade and its intertwined relationship with the slave trade. The city continued to grow and in the nineteenth century it emerged as a major tobacco processing center. With tobacco manufacturing concentrated in the Shockoe Valley area, which also was the nexus of the slave trade, manufacturing was conducted by small, locally owned operations. After the Civil War, the production of tobacco products began to modernize rapidly, with the 1881 cigarette rolling machine a harbinger of things to come. As the nineteenth century came to a close, more developments took place that would forever change the industry in the city and throughout the world. This included the introduction of proprietary blends of tobacco and different curing processes that would allow for the inhalation of tobacco smoke; the invention of the safety match; improvements in mass production and transportation which allowed for a much larger scale of manufacture that could reach a much larger consumer base; and use of mass media to reach a rapidly expanding consumer market.

The advent of maintaining a consistent, proprietary tobacco blend and increasing production speed posed challenges for older production facilities in Shockoe Valley. Most of these facilities were multi-story, elevator-serviced warehouse buildings that could contain an adequate supply of tobacco on-hand to keep up with the older, slower, cigarette-manufacturing equipment. However, as newer high-speed machines came online, and proprietary blends required nearby storage of a much larger cache of tobacco, including at multiple varieties and stages of aging, cigarette manufacturers found that the nineteenth-century facilities lacked sufficient space for modern operations. Meanwhile, across the James River in Manchester, industrial development boomed as newer manufacturing processes and infrastructure development allowed factories to move away from the riverfront. To capture this economic energy, the City of Richmond annexed Manchester which, although growing rapidly, had difficulties providing sufficient services to residents and businesses alike. Manchester offered easier access to the James River and rail spurs as well as large stretches of undeveloped land which proved enticing to tobacco manufacturers. Companies locating there "took advantage of advancements in building construction and were able to encompass even larger amounts of space dedicated entirely to the production of tobacco products, primarily cigarettes". A 1939 newspaper article noted that soon "Richmond will be able to say that it is storing more tobacco than has ever been assembled at any one time at any one place. The tobacco companies have steadily been building storage plants, largely on the South Side".

Establishment of the Model Tobacco Factory

As happened with other industries in the United States around the turn of the twentieth century, large national firms began buying out small, local tobacco companies. United States Tobacco Company can trace its origins to George Weyman's tobacco shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1822. It became Weyman & Bro. in 1870, which was then acquired by the giant American Tobacco Company in 1905. In 1907, a federal court ruled that American Tobacco Company, and its subsidiary the American Snuff Company, was a monopoly and in 1911 the Supreme Court ruled that it must be dissolved. The three major resulting companies included American Tobacco, Liggett and Myers, and P. Lorillard, as well as numerous smaller tobacco concerns. The future United States Tobacco Company acquired from the American Snuff Company multiple concerns including Weyman & Bro, Aug. Beck & Co., H. Bolander, Bruton & Condon, DeVoe Snuff Co., Standard Snuff Co., and Skinner & Co. The newly combined firms became Weyman-Bruton Company, Inc.

Originally, the company's primary focus was on snuff. With the purchase of P.B. Gravely Tobacco Company in 1915, however, the business would expand to include plug, plug-cut, and pipe-ready tobaccos. In 1921, the company bought Joseph G. Dill, Inc. and The United States Tobacco Co. (on South 19^th Street, Richmond), with its "Central Union Cut Plug." Weyman-Bruton Company, Inc. changed its named to the United States Tobacco Company (USTC) the following year. In the 1930s, the company had its headquarters in New York and factories in Chicago, Illinois, which produced moist or semi-perishable chewing brands, in Nashville, Tennessee, which manufactured all dry snuff, and in Richmond, Virginia, which made all plug, plug-cut, and pipe-ready tobacco brands.

Unlike snuff, USTC's smoking tobacco was their only product that had national distribution and recognition and would allow them to do national advertising on their particular brands, Dill's Best and Model. As they noted in a 1936 company booklet, "We are a real factor in the market, as a result of the quality and value of our various brands and aggressive and progressive exploitation of Dill's Best and Model through salesmanship and advertising". Dill's Best, which was first manufactured in 1848, was a higher quality tobacco for the more "discriminating smokers" who were able to pay a higher price. Model tobacco appealed to consumers looking for a quality product at a lower cost. Model was developed and placed on the market in the first years of the Great Depression and though it had a milder taste, it was "by no means a flat, insipid, tasteless tobacco. It's a real man's smoke". In 1936, the USTC noted that "Model will have the widest distribution and largest sale of any of our brands".

The popularity of their brands, and the stability of the tobacco market as a whole, led the company not only to survive the Great Depression but to expand, adding its third major plant as the 1930s came to a close. Like other companies in the Richmond area, USTC moved out of Shockoe Valley to Manchester and in 1938 became the second tobacco firm to announce a project in the area within a year. Vice-President and Managing Director of the Richmond Branch announced plans for a plant between Petersburg Pike and the Atlantic Coast Line (A.C.L.), which would operate in conjunction with USTC's plant on 19^th Street; the new buildings were to be erected at Stop 2½, Petersburg Pike. USTC contracted the architectural firm Schmidt, Garden, and Erikson of Chicago, Illinois, to design the principle buildings of the new complex and John Felmley of Bloomington, Illinois, to construct them. When the building permit was applied for in 1939, the expected cost of the new factory building, powerhouse, and a warehouse was between $800,000 and $900,000. Permits for other warehouses, at an expected cost of $65,000, had been previously applied for.

Even as the popularity of cigarettes grew, USTC used its new facilities to produce its most popular smoking tobacco brand, Model. Among other tobacco products made at the plant were Old Briar, Mapleton, Bowl of Roses, Dill's Best, Lion Head, White Cloud, Antique Mixture, Sano, and Patterson's (as shown in various advertisements of the period). In addition to smoking tobacco, some cigarette brands were also produced. These included King Sano and Encore, both advertised as having a "true Richmond Blend". King Sano was the company's low-nicotine cigarette, the process for which was obtained when they purchased Fleming-Hall Tobacco in 1951.

By the 1960s, the company had facilities in New York, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Suffolk Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Nashville, Tennessee; Clarksville, Tennessee; Springfield, Tennessee; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Red Lion, Pennsylvania; Windsor, Pennsylvania; Camden, New Jersey; and San Francisco, California, and had also branched outside of the tobacco industry to include candy, pens and pencils, and cat and dog food.

In October 1985, USTC announced plans to stop operations at their Model Tobacco complex and that winter sold it to West Park Tobacco Inc. and its marketing affiliate Park Avenue Tobacco Inc., for a price of $2,074,000. West Park and Park Avenue were organized with the financial support of a major West German tobacco company and most of the organization's production facilities were in Germany. The purchaser planned to start producing cigarettes at the plant though it would not relocate its sales and marketing offices from northern Virginia to Richmond. The company's cigarettes, including West, Delta, 1776, Astor, and Knightsbridge, were described as "value-priced brands". The company held the building for only two short years before it was sold to C. Jacob Keck in 1988. Keck advertised the complex as Model Tobacco Business Park and it was used for storage and offices.

Until the first decade of the twentieth century, tobacco storage and processing in Richmond was largely confined to the Shockoe Valley area of Richmond that took advantage of the older industrial infrastructure and transportation routes including the canal and railroad. The dense development pattern of the area coupled with contemporary industry methods resulted in most tobacco facilities consisting of tall, multi-story warehouses that functioned as both tobacco storage and processing plants. With the advent of newer and faster cigarette rolling machines, widespread marketing and distribution, and the rising demand for product consistency, tobacco companies were forced to revise their production models. In the late 1930s, the United States Tobacco Company joined the growing number of companies relocating to the Manchester area on Richmond's south side. Two advantages determined the choice of the new site: the buildings could be designed and located for optimum production efficiency and a large enough site was afforded to provide for future expansion of facilities. The new location alongside the primary north-south arterial highway would have the added benefit of attracting public attention.

The Model Tobacco Factory was comprised of three primary elements: the six-story factory building, a power plant, and tobacco warehouses. The complex is a prime example of a modern horizontally-arranged production facility. Situated between the A.C.L and Petersburg Pike on approximately 12 acres, the Model Tobacco Factory was able to take advantage of both the rail line and the parcel's ample space.

These facilities were designed to create a more efficient and streamlined flow of production incorporating the adjacent transportation corridors by having trucking lanes and railroad spurs reach each of the three units. The flow of the complex saw cured tobacco removed from the warehouses and taken to the top floor of the factory building. The manufacturing process followed gravity back to the ground floor where finished products were loaded onto freight cars or trucks. A spur of the A.C.L was laid along the north side of one warehouse to the southern end of the factory where it entered the building. This allowed for the loading and unloading of rail cars within the building. Additionally, there was a shipping platform on the west elevation of the factory building.

Power for the complex stemmed from the power plant just west of the factory building. The building consisted of two boilers, two engine generators, and two refrigerating units, complete with pumps, conveyors, and other equipment for automatic operation. Coal was delivered to the power plant by rail. The cars stopped at the power plant and dropped the coal into a bin beneath the tracks where it was moved into the basement of the power plant by conveyor at which point it was dropped into a vertical conveyor to the top of the boiler room. Also located within the building was a knife grinding and pipe shop, carpenter shop, and electric shop.

In addition to access to the railroad, the size of the parcel enabled the company to construct separate warehouses. This was a deviation from many tobacco companies operating in Richmond in the twentieth century which did not actually construct their own storage sheds but leased warehouses along the rail lines. Southwest of the factory building, the complex originally had two rows of warehouses; a third warehouse was constructed in 1952 west of the factory.

Early photographs of the complex depict single-story, louvered warehouses, which was the typical warehouse form on Richmond's south side "to serve the new high-speed cigarette production facilities". These featured large open interior spaces that allowed for easier storage and movement of large supplies of tobacco by fewer people than historically seen. Between 1929 through the 1940s, tobacco warehouses were typically louvered, or "open", metal-clad buildings without insulation, interior finishes, or weather barriers. The louvered exterior walls allowed for air circulation within the warehouses.

The higher concentration of tobacco in this type of warehouse permitted infestation of stored tobacco by the tobacco beetle, which necessitated a new warehouse type and storage procedures. Fumigation slowly began in the 1930s to address the situation; in order for fumigation to be effective, however, the warehouses had to be impermeable. A 1952 birds-eye view of the Model Tobacco Company shows that the new warehouse was constructed with impermeable metal walls while the original warehouses remained louvered, at least for the time being. Throughout the city, louvered warehouses often would be enclosed with metal siding to allow for fumigation from the 1950s onward.

Site Description

The Model Tobacco Factory is an industrial complex located at 1100 Jefferson Davis Highway in Richmond, Virginia. The large parcel contains the factory building, power plant, three warehouses, a water tank, a water tower, two hose rack buildings, a gatekeeper's building, two sheds, and a small brick utility building that were constructed by the United States Tobacco Company. Construction of the complex began in 1938 and it opened for business in 1940. The production facility and warehouses represent the evolution of tobacco storage and processing facilities built in the first half of the twentieth century in Richmond. Additionally, the factory building and power plant stand as fine examples of the Art Deco style with International Style influences.

The Model Tobacco Factory is located on approximately 12 acres at the northwest corner of Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. Route 1) and North Hopkins Road (Route 637) in the Maury neighborhood of the City of Richmond, Virginia. In an industrial and urban setting, the site is flanked on the west by Maury and Mt. Olivet cemeteries, on the east by commercial development and housing associated with the Blackwell and Oak Grove neighborhoods, and on the north and south by industrial and commercial development.

The fenced-in complex contains original and later buildings associated with the United States Tobacco Company including the six-story factory building, power plant, three tobacco warehouses, a water tank and water tower, two hose rack buildings, a gatekeeper's building, two modern sheds, and a small brick utility building. The factory building is prominently sited on U.S. Route 1 with the other buildings setback to its west and south. A low hedge is in front of the factory and a concrete-paved semicircular drive that provides access to the front door is located towards the north end of the factory's east facade. A lawn extends out from the south elevation of the building with large trees that screen two of the warehouses from view. On either side of the factory, an ornamental black iron fence, anchored with red brick pillars, separates the parcel from the public sidewalk. Two entrances lead into the complex and a series of "streets" that connects the buildings.

The power plant, water tower, water tank, small brick utility building, and open shed are situated on a small grassy field west of the factory building, separated from it by a wide concrete paved area on which sits a later shed. The original two warehouses stretch across the southern half of the parcel and the two hose rack buildings and gatekeeper's building are to their east. The 1952 warehouse is located in the northwest corner of the lot. A "street" extends along each of the warehouses to provide vehicular access for loading and unloading. The CSX (formerly the Seaboard Air Line) railroad corridor is located on the western boundary of the property and a railroad spur originally served the complex. The spur branched off the main line near the 1950s warehouse and curved south of the power plant to a (now infilled) opening at the southern end of the factory building. A creek is also located on the property and runs in a southeasterly direction from a culvert under the railroad. Most of the creek is now contained within an underground culvert.

The factory and office building at Model Tobacco Factory has a prominent location within the complex alongside U.S. Route 1. The six-story, rectangular, reinforced-concrete structural frame building is surfaced in red brick, laid in a variant of the Flemish bond, with limestone and concrete trim. A flat roof, with concrete coping, covers the building.

The long east facade is characterized by a recessed horizontal band of windows, with concrete lintels and sills, on each floor. The two-over-two horizontal-light sash windows alternate with dark-colored brick piers. The horizontal line of these windows is continued on the dark brick with the use of light gray terra cotta. The horizontality continues beyond the line of the building with cantilevered eyebrow ledges. Corresponding with the interior division, the windows near each end are singled while those in the middle, along the tobacco workspace inside, are in groups of four. The majority of the windows are metal, while those in the first-floor office space are wood sash. Small metal windows are equally spaced along the basement level.

Though an industrial building not typically open to the public, there is a thoughtfully designed Art Deco entrance on the front elevation providing access to the office space at the northern end of the east facade, while employees entered from the west elevation. Steps, angling out from the building, lead to an inset double-leaf glazed and stainless-steel door. This entrance is ornamented with a concrete surround and the doors have an Art Deco design. Each door consists of three metal squares with central panes of glass containing an eagle etched on the glass. Above the door, stainless-steel letters spell out OFFICE and the door is flanked by concrete planters with a small hedge. At the north end of the building is a stone reading UNITED STATES TOBACCO CO. MANUFACTURER OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS.

Because the building was visible from many places within the City of Richmond and became a landmark along U.S. Route 1, the building was designed to have the north and south elevations serve as advertisements for the facility. In contrast to the horizontality on the east and west elevations, on the north and south a limestone frame and projecting piers spring from the ground and support large stainless steel "sky signs" at and above the roof line spelling out MODEL TOBACCO, United States Tobacco Company's most popular brand produced at the factory. In order to accentuate this detail and its verticality, the windows are set between each pier and are separated by dark-colored brick with light gray terra cotta details. Treatment on the first floor differs with the windows on the north elevation protruding out from the piers and capped by a crenelated detail. Because railroad siding originally accessed the building at the south elevation, there would have been open space between the piers which is now enclosed by vertical metal siding. Despite the lack of windows, the crenelated detail is repeated on the south elevation.

The west elevation is similar to the east elevation with regard to the fenestration and decorative details. However, given that this was not a public facade, it has a more utilitarian appearance. Three stair/elevator towers project from the wall, interrupting the horizontal bands of windows. Each tower has double-leaf pedestrian doors that echo the pattern of the front entrance door but are executed in wood rather than metal. The towers differ in the placement of doors and windows. On the north tower, the door is on the north elevation and above it is a small window at each floor. On the middle and south towers, the doors are on the west elevation, as well as a loading door, set into a panel of dark-colored brick. The door on the middle tower has a three-light transom while that on the south tower has a transom and sidelights. The verticality of these towers is increased with the use of two columns of windows separated by painted panels.

A loading dock extends between the middle and south tower. Protected by an overhang, the dock features four folding wood loading doors and windows between each door. There is a second smaller and unsheltered loading dock just south of the south tower. Unlike the other loading dock, its door has been replaced with a metal garage door. The rail entrance to the building at the southern end has been covered with metal siding.

The factory has a flat, built-up roof surfaced with gravel. Each of the stair/elevator towers has a penthouse and there is an additional one-by-four-bay penthouse towards the north end. The sign parapets punctuate each end and are brick faced with stone. Numerous ventilators and exhaust vents punctuate the roof.

Within the tobacco factory, each floor, measuring approximately 100-by-350 feet, is divided into three sections. The larger central portion corresponds to the manufacturing process while the two ends housed railroad siding and office space, on the first floor, and a variety of functions on the upper floors. These sections on the upper floors are divided by fireproof walls with metal fire doors. Most of the interiors are defined by a regular grid of concrete columns and beams with walls covered in buff colored glazed brick. Each of the three stair towers has concrete steps with a metal pipe railing. Like elsewhere in the factory, the walls are clad in buff colored glazed brick.

The generally open center manufacturing area on each floor has been subdivided to various degrees by chain link fences, partitions, and plastic; on the second floor, modern partitions enclose a business currently operating in the space. Remnants of previous use by businesses or organization continue to be visible throughout the building and for multiple years it appears to have been used for storage. Heavy ductwork extends along the ceilings in some areas and original tobacco scales remain in others. The flooring consists of asphalt plank on the first floor, edge-grain maple on the second floor, and concrete slabs surfaced with a one-inch thick industrial cement finish elsewhere.

The north and south ends of the building were used for various purposes and may have differing floor plans. On the upper floors, these areas generally served as a cafeteria/dining room, service areas, locker, and wash rooms. Locker and wash rooms typically have glazed brick walls, terrazzo floors, soapstone and metal stalls and showers, lockers, sinks, toilets, and urinals. The first floor differs from the upper stories with the presence of the office and railroad siding.

The north end of the first floor housed a reception lobby, three individual offices, and a large open area where rows of desks were located. This area conveys the Art Deco style, has the most decorative spaces in the plant, and projects an image of industrial modernity. The lobby, with its stainless-steel-and-glass vestibule, is completely paneled in wood with curved corners on the north wall. The door to the interior offices is the same wood as the paneling. It repeats the three square panels found on the entrance doors although the functioning door consists of only the two lower panels. Art Deco motifs are also found on details such as the door knobs. According to a 1941 article on the building, the ceilings were "acoustically treated" though they have been covered with modern acoustic tiles. The three individual offices feature wood sheathed walls, either completely or as wainscoting. The floors in the office area have either been carpeted or covered with tiles; though given the use of terrazzo flooring in other spaces in the building, it is possible that terrazzo was the original flooring.

The southern end of the first floor had a railroad siding. Folding wood loading doors open along the southern wall of the manufacturing space to access it. The area is now enclosed from the exterior by metal siding,

West and south of the main factory building are 12 secondary structures associated with the Model Tobacco Factory. Of these structures, eight (a power plant, two warehouses, a water tower, a water tank, two hose buildings, and a gatekeeper's building) were constructed around the same time as the factory building. An additional warehouse was built in 1952.

West of the factory building is the power plant that was constructed c.1939. This building combines four rectangular masses of different heights that houses the complex's engine room, pump room, boiler room, and workshops. The red brick has the same Flemish variant of bonding as the main factory building and flat roofs, with concrete coping, cover each mass. The largest mass, with the engine and pump rooms, is an L-shaped section that wraps around the taller boiler room on the east and north sides. A 204-foot brick smokestack is attached to the west elevation of the boiler room. The smallest section of the building, housing the knife grinding and pipe shop, carpenter shop, and electric shop, is at the southeast corner.

The main entrance into the power plant is on the east facade of the largest section, facing the rear of the factory building. The double-leaf doors, with two square panels on each leaf that mimics the main entrance to the factory building, is sheltered by a flat metal canopy. A concrete stoop and steps, with metal pipe railings, provides access to the door. Two original light fixtures are positioned on either side of the door. This section of the power plant features narrow, full-height, multi-light, paired or tripled steel windows.

The boiler room that the engine and pump rooms wrap around is articulated as two blocks of differing heights; the interior of which is the tallest block at four stories. This taller, rectangular block protrudes from the plane of the south facade for a loading door. A second door is set on the lower section and is accessed via concrete steps and a stoop with a metal pipe railing. Both entrances consist of double-leaf doors with two square panels on each leaf. Narrow, multi-light, paired steel windows extend up from the entrances. Two large windows with four columns of lights are located on the lower level of the west elevation of this block with small windows located near the roof line directly over the lower windows. A ribbon of windows wrap around all but the southeast corner near the top of the tallest block. The octagonal-shaped smokestack is attached to this block at the roof level.

The southeastern section of the building houses the plant's workshops. The one-story rectangular block projects from the east facade. While the other blocks of the power plant accentuates verticality, the workshop section counterbalances this with a recessed band of windows similar to that on the factory building. Concrete borders these windows. Groups of stacked steel windows are separated by dark-colored brick. The horizontal line created by the metal of the windows is continued in the brick with gray terra cotta. There are three entrances to this space on the south elevation. The inset, half-glazed, metal doors appear as a continuation of the windows.

The interior spaces of the power plant are utilitarian. Like the factory building, the walls are covered with buff glazed brick except for the basement and the very top of the boiler room which have red brick. Most floors are red tile and steel framing is visible in the ceilings. The multiple levels of catwalks and stairs are steel with pipe hand rails. While the engine, pump, and boiler rooms continue to be open and house equipment, the workshops have been altered with the addition of modern partition walls, dropped acoustical tile ceilings, and carpeting.

Second only to the factory building in its architectural design, the power plant's towering mass with tall vertical windows is counterbalanced by the one-story workshop wing and horizontal bands of windows. The brick smokestack contributes to the overall verticality of the building.

This warehouse, just south of the power plant, is a one-story, three-bay, rectangular building. Its style, materials, and massing are typical of other Richmond tobacco warehouses built in the same period; the warehouse was constructed c.1939. The wood frame structure is now sheathed in modern metal and brick firewalls separate the bays. On the north facade, entrances into each bay are at grade while on the south elevation they are approached by a concrete loading dock that extends the length. The westernmost entrance is protected by a metal overhang. The roof covering the structure has a slight gable. The interior has exposed wood wall framing, exposed roof sheathing, braced wood posts, concrete floors, and exposed building systems.

At the southern end of the site is a one-story, four-bay, rectangular warehouse. Its style, materials, and massing are typical of other Richmond tobacco warehouses built in the same period; the warehouse was constructed c.1939. The wood frame structure is now sheathed in modern metal and brick firewalls separate the bays. On the north facade, entrances into each bay are approached by a concrete loading dock that extends the length. The easternmost entrance on the south elevation is protected by a metal overhang. The roof covering the structure has a slight gable. The interior has exposed wood wall framing, exposed roof sheathing, braced wood posts, concrete floors, and exposed building systems.

At the northwestern corner of the site is a one-story, two-bay warehouse. The frame structure is sheathed in metal and a brick firewall separates the two bays. Low concrete ramps and low concrete loading docks approach the entrances to the warehouse, one of which has been enclosed and replaced with a smaller pedestrian door. There are three additional entrances on the east elevation, two of which are for loading directly into a truck and one has a ramp to the vehicular opening. A very shallow gable roof covers the warehouse and features a row of ventilators on each section. The interior has exposed roof sheathing, braced wood posts, concrete floors, and exposed building systems. The interior walls have been covered by plywood on the lower half and insulation on the upper half. This warehouse was constructed in 1952.

Constructed c.1939, the cylindrical metal water tank rests on grade just west of the power plant and has a domed roof with a ball finial.

Constructed c.1939, the cylindrical metal water tower with its low-pitched conical roof is supported on tilted and cross-braced steel columns just west of the power plant. Cellular telephone antennae have been affixed to the tower and there is now the requisite modular box at the bottom of the tower.

The Hose Rack Building is located just south of the factory building. Constructed c.1939, it is a small, one-story brick building with a flat roof. The building reflects the design of the main factory building with its masonry construction. The brick is laid in a stretcher bond and on two sides there are three distinctive recessed vertical brick details with headers with a dark glaze. Solid, double-doors are off-centered on the south facade. A flat roof, with metal coping, covers the building.

The other Hose Rack Building is located just east of the southern warehouse. It is a small, one-story brick building with a flat roof. Constructed c.1939, the building reflects the design of the main factory building with its masonry construction. The glazed brick is laid in a stretcher bond and on two sides there are three insets in which lie a vertical column of headers of the dark glazed brick. Solid, double-doors are off-centered on the west facade. A flat roof, with metal coping, covers the building.

On the south side of the southern entrance, just north of the southern warehouse sits the c. 1939

Gatekeeper's Building. This is a small, one-story, red brick building. The half-glazed entrance is centered on the north facade and there is a one-over-one double-hung sash window facing the site's entrance. Although it has no ornamental details, the red brick has the same Flemish variant of bonding as the main factory building. A flat roof, with metal coping, covers the building.

Just west of the main factory building, this one-story, gable-roofed shed appears to have been altered over time. The footprint of the shed on the 1956 USGS topographic map shows a small square building. The existing building is a rectangular, wood frame shed clad with corrugated metal. The southern end of the building is inset to allow for a partially protected storage area. The siting adjacent to the main factory building, the lack of considered detailing, and the lack of fire walls are inconsistent with the earlier structures on the property as is the steeper-pitched roof with exposed purlins at the gable end.

The small brick utility building is at the rear of the power plant and is attached to a cylindrical gas tank; it appears to have been an accessory to the power plant. Likely constructed in the 1950s, the building has no discernible architectural style. This is a one-story, square, brick building that repeats the brick bond seen on the Gatekeeper's Building. A boarded entrance is off-centered on the east facade and there is a small, boarded window. A flat roof, with concrete coping, covers the building. The walls of the building are undermined by several, large structural cracks.

A steel frame open storage area is located behind the power plant and it used for lumber storage. The structure is exposed and the flat roof is covered by corrugated metal. The structure was constructed in the late twentieth century and has no discernible architectural style.