Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Mobile Brake Co., Inc. ca. 1960-Unknown
• N & B Mfg. Co. ca. 1942-1959
• Tao Tea Co. ca. 1922-ca. 1938

Use (Historic)

• Apparel & Accessories
• Food, Beverage, Tobacco
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

50 (1927)

Historic Narrative

The Tao Tea Company was a New York-based tea manufacturer that first brought its product to Connecticut in 1922. Around that time the company also erected a small plant along the rail line in Bethel, where it soon employed over 50 employees packing and shipping its product. Advertisements announcing the arrival of the company’s product in the state highlight its unique packaging, the tea ball, which were ball-shaped bags made from sterilized muslin. The firm’s advertising noted that the, ‘The Tea Ball Is Your Safeguard…’ that it was, ‘The modern, safe way of packing tea…’ due to the fact that “Human hands do not touch them during the entire process.’ The company also highlighted its economical, yet high-quality product made from select orange pekoe leaves. The Tao Tea Company vacated its Bethel plant during the late 1930s and the building subsequently remained vacant until the early 1940s. The plant was eventually occupied by the N and B Manufacturing Company, a producer of women’s dresses, around 1942. N and B Manufacturing was organized by Jack Nacman, a resident of New York, New York, who relocated to Bethel after establishing the firm. Nacman maintained the company along with his wife Cydaria up until his death ca. 1959, after which the dress shop was closed and the building eventually acquired by the Mobile Brake Company, an auto repair facility.

Number of Existing Buildings

Two (2) adjoining blocks.

Dates of Construction

ca. 1922

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The former Tao Tea Company plant is comprised of two adjoining blocks located on the west side of Taylor Avenue, along the east side of the rail line and roughly 570’ south of Taylor Avenue’s intersection with South Street. This small factory was erected ca. 1922 and consists of a two-story, 50’ x 70’ red brick primary block with a two-story, 22’ x 22’ red brick ell adjoining its north (side) elevation. Both blocks have concrete foundations, red brick walls with large window openings, multi-pane metal sash with hopper-style openings, concrete coping, and flat roofs. The main block has two garage-style door openings and a single pass-through door on its façade (east elevation). Two rows of bricks laid in soldier course span the main block’s façade forming a tall cornice. A stepped brick parapet lines the roofline above.

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• EPDM

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Fair

Condition Notes

The complex is in fair condition. The plant appears to be structurally sound and all of the original windows appear to have been retained.

Specific Location

One legal parcel (15 Taylor Avenue) totaling 0.185 acres located on the west side of Taylor Avenue, along the east side of the rail line and roughly 570’ south of Taylor Avenue’s intersection with South Street.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 23/17/01 / Link →

Acreage

0.185

Use (Present)

• Vacant

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

07/27/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of Fairfield County; Baker, William A., 1854.
6. Sanborn Map Company, 1884, 1889, 1895, 1901, 1906, 1912, 1927, 1949.
7. Hartford Courant, 1922.