Building Description National Clothespin Factory, Montpelier Vermont
The National Clothespin Factory, circa 1918, is a three-story, two-by-twelve bay wood frame factory, with a flat, overhanging roof, located along the southeast bank of the Winooski River, on the corner of Granite Street and Stone Shed Lane, in Montpelier, Vermont. An associated one-story, shed roof office and storage building, circa 1950, is also located on the site, immediately adjacent the river. The buildings are located in an industrial neighborhood filled with granite sheds and lumber yards between the railroad and the Winooski River. The main block is a rectangular plan, sheathed in gray clapboard siding and resting upon a granite foundation, with an elevator shaft extending past the roofline on the easterly corner of the building. A two-story shed addition, rebuilt in the 1990's, extends off the north facade, flush with the facade of the main block. A one-story addition was constructed circa 1925 at the intersection of the ells and was later extended across the entirety of the west facade. The southwesterly end of the addition was later raised to a full three stories.
The primary facade, or east elevation, is accessible via two entrances, one on the second bay from the left and the other on the third bay from the right. Two cement steps and an iron railing lead up to the rightmost accessible entrance. There is an additional door located at the second bay from the right, but it is not accessible. The leftmost door is flat stock wood replacement. The door with the cement stairs is metal replacement with one large window covered in metal mesh. The rightmost door may be historic, and has four vertical panels located below an eight-pane upper window opening. The fenestration consists of three rows of six-over-six, double hung sash windows with plain surrounds. The windows are evenly spaced and nearly uninterrupted in their horizontal arrangement.
The east facing and north facing elevations are adjoined by the elevator shaft, which is flush with the two facades and rises a few feet past the roofline of the main block and is topped with a slightly pitched overhanging roof. The east facade of the tower is has a column of three windows, while the north facade is bare.
The north elevation displays a centrally placed loading dock, consisting of a wide red door of vertical boards atop a slightly protruding cement platform. The door is flanked, asymmetrically, by two columns of windows, three rows high, all of which are the same size and style as those on the primary facade. The newer two-story addition extends to the west, and includes a large open bay on the first level and two windows on the second level that are of the same type as the historic portion of the building, and likely were reused. The addition is capped with a low-pitched shed roof. One window is located on the west facade of the main block just above this roofline, and is the same configuration as the other historic windows on the building. There is one additional uncovered opening on the second level of the south facade of this addition.
The west elevation of the main block is barely visible behind the various additions, although the original fenestration seems to match. in size, style and arrangement, that of the primary facade. A fire escape extends from a window on the third floor. down towards the right, providing access to the roof of the one-story addition. The one-story addition is covered in gray tin siding, with a widely overhanging roof. A garage door, constructed of painted green wood, with two rows of six panes of glass each, opens into the addition on the far left end.
The three-story, rear addition is sheathed in matching gray clapboards and capped in a flat overhanging roof. A brick chimney rises from the northeasterly end of the roof. The north elevation of the addition has only one small, square, single-paned window, with a plain, unpainted surround, opening into the second floor near the northerly corner. The west elevation of the addition is five bays wide. The fenestration of the upper two stories matches, in size and style, that of the main block, but the first story consists of small, square, nine-paned windows, painted green, with plain, white surrounds. A large, green garage door, matching that of the one story addition, opens into the center of the facade and is sheltered by a peaked hood. The south elevation, which is flush with the south elevation of the main block, has one wooden door, painted red, with a single pane of glass, opening into the second floor, on the far right hand side of the facade. A fire escape extends down toward the left, providing access to the ground.
The south elevation of the main block consists of three rows of two windows each, symmetrically aligned, matching, in size and style, the fenestration of the primary facade.
The interior plan has remained largely unchanged. except for a studio space on the third floor. The original balloon frame construction is visible on the interior, as well as the original wood flooring and walls. A complex system of ducts for the purpose of vertically transporting the clothespins from floor to floor characterizes the interior of the building and contrasts the horizontality of the exterior.
The first floor is divided into several rooms of varying size. The far left entrance along the primary facade opens into the largest of the first floor rooms, an ell shaped space filled with machinery for cutting the raw wood and producing the shaped clothespin halves. A small washroom is partitioned off in the northerly corner of the room. To the right are two doors that open into the tumbler room, a small rectangular space housing large barrel-shaped tumblers in which the clothespins are dried and into a narrow, ell shaped room containing the elevator shaft, conveyor belts and access to the loading dock. Additional small, rectangular rooms fill the remaining space in the back of the building. Both stairs to the second floor and to the cellar are found along the southeasterly wall of the narrow, ell shaped room.
Two larger rooms span the width of the main block on the second floor. The stairs rise to a large rectangular room, housing the elevator shaft and conveyor belts, which move the boxes of clothespins down to the first floor. A connecting, larger rectangular room, with a small washroom and break room partitioned off in the northerly corner, houses the row of clothespin assembly machines. Two doors at either end of the back wall enter into another smaller rectangular room in which the completed clothespins are bagged and boxed.
Atop the staircase on the third floor is a square room, housing the elevator shaft, on the right, and a long, narrow rectangular room, with two rows of machinery producing springs for the clothespins, on the left. A studio space is accessible in the rear of the building via a long, narrow hallway. The studio is an ell shaped room, with a small washroom and darkroom directly to the right of the entrance. The original windows have been fitted with storm sashes, and the interior partition walls have been covered in dry wall. The original wood flooring and walls are still visible as are the post and beam supports and the sprinkler system. A brick chimney fills the easterly corner of the space.
A narrow, spiral staircase descends from the first floor into the cellar. The cellar is one large, rectangular room with a concrete floor and the rubble stone foundation 1s visible along the walls.
A detached, one-story office building, circa 1950, is situated to the south of the main factory building, and contributes to the significance of the factory site by both its supporting function and architectural style. Originally used for lumber storage, the building was renovated for office use in the 1960's, and continues that function today. A garage area is located at the southwesterly end of the building, and is currently used for storage. The structure, roughly one-by-six bays, is covered in gray shingles and is topped with a shed roof. The fenestration consists primarily of one-over-one, double-hung sash windows, with plain surrounds, painted white, and small, rectangular single-pane windows also with plain, white surrounds. Entry is gained on the southeasterly elevation, through a wooden door, with a single pane of glass, sheltered by a peaked door hood and on the southwesterly elevation through a matching wooden door, centered along the facade. The garage area at the southwesterly end of the building has overhead, four-by-four paneled door. A small chimney is centrally located on the root. The foundation of the building is concrete, and the shed roof has synthetic shingles.
