Naugatuck Rubber Industry & Uniroyal Warehouse

COLLECTION HISTORY

The people behind the place.

Naugatuck’s rubber manufacturers included the Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe Company, Goodyear India Rubber Glove Company and Union Rubber Company. Preservation Connecticut records their consolidation into United States Rubber by 1894. Local footwear production continued even as other company plants emphasized automobile tires. [CT069-S01]

United States Rubber adopted the Uniroyal name in 1966, and its Naugatuck footwear operations closed in 1979. The preservation inventory identifies the 1954 warehouse at Rubber Avenue as the surviving building of the former large complex. Earlier factory photographs therefore preserve buildings that cannot all be found on the present site. [CT069-S01]

Goodyear Metallic Rubber Shoe, Goodyear India Rubber Glove and Union Rubber were distinct local businesses before their consolidation into United States Rubber. The preservation record places that consolidation by 1894. Following the names matters because a product label, a corporate name and a factory address may each change at a different time. [CT069-S01]

The Uniroyal name dates to 1966, while Naugatuck footwear operations ended in 1979. The 1954 warehouse identified by the inventory is therefore a survivor of a much larger production landscape. Earlier factory views help recover buildings that the warehouse alone cannot represent. Photographs of related chemical works must retain their own company identification; they provide industrial context without becoming images of the footwear plant. The resulting story connects products, business consolidation and physical loss without assigning every operation one beginning or ending. [CT069-S01]