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The Cornwall & Patterson Mfg. Co.
museumofcthistory.org

"The Cornwall and Patterson Manufacturing Company was organized in Bridgeport, Connecticut on October 1, 1879. The firm was founded by Jesse B. Cornwall, a former clerk at the Bridgeport Lock Company, and James T. Patterson, the proprietor and founder of the Bridgeport Organ Works. The company specialized in the production of piano and organ hardware, in addition to manufacturing a small line of baseball goods. Its plant initially occupied a space in what was known as the West End Mill (also the home of the Bridgeport Organ Works), this located at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Organ Street, where the company employed roughly 25 hands through the 1880s. Around 1898, the Cornwall and Patterson Manufacturing Company moved from its rented quarters in the West End Mill and occupied a newly erected factory located at the corner of State Street and Bedford Avenue. This was enlarged on several occasions during the first two decades of the 20th century and by the mid-1920s the company employed over 100 workers. The household piano industry reached an apex during the 1920s and was dealt a serious blow by onset of the Great Depression in 1929. As a result, the Cornwall and Patterson Manufacturing Company slipped into receivership during the mid-1930s. The firm was dissolved and then reorganized late in 1937 after being acquired by the Leach Manufacturing Company of Providence, Rhode Island. The business was subsequently revived and by 1939 employed between 25 and 49 hands in its Bridgeport shop. The State Street plant appears to have been far too large for the reorganized company as the business was moved to a smaller leased factory space at 938 Crescent Avenue around 1940. In 1957, the firm was acquired by the renowned piano and organ parts manufacturer Pratt, Read and Company, which by then had consolidated its offices in Ivoryton, Connecticut. The Bridgeport plant was moved to 1155 Railroad Avenue during the late-20th century, and the Pratt-Read Company manufactured screwdrivers at this location until 2007. The Cornwall and Patterson Manufacturing Company’s former State Street factory subsequently passed to a series of short-term occupants, including Mitchell Brothers, Incorporated, underwear manufacturers, during the 1940s; the Bridgeport Pressed Steel Corporation and the Bright Light Reflector Company during the 1950s; and Drug Service, Incorporated and Aerosol Techniques, Incorporated during the 1960s. The plant has since been converted for use as offices, artist studio space, and as a storage facility for a building materials retailer." connecticutmills.org



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