What Is That Thing: Billings Forge

I can't be the only person to have wondered, on first seeing the building at 140 Russ Street in Frog Hollow, "What is that?"

Brick and massive, with a front door that opens up onto the corner and a curious Romanesque revival tower, it doesn't look quite like anything else in the immediate area. I looked up the history of the structure, which now houses 98 mixed-income apartments managed by Billings Forge Community Works, the first time I came across it.

Unlike some Hartford buildings, I was able to find out what it was pretty much instantly. For one thing, the history is right there in the name. This was indeed a forge, manufacturing tools and sewing machines. It was also easy to find out that it was then called Billings & Spencer, and was built by Charles E. Billings, an innovator in the process of drop-forging, and Christopher Spencer (as in Spencer repeating rifle) in the late 19th century.

I was satisfied with those answers and didn't think any more about it until last Tuesday, when Billings Forge's very first newsletter showed up in my inbox. In addition to news about Firebox restaurant and farm-to-table youth programming, it included a short history of the work that went on in the distinctive building at Russ and Lawrence.

Reading it, I learned that in the mid-1800s, Capitol Avenue was called Rifle Avenue; that Billings once saved Remington & Sons $50,000 "with a single improvement to their manufacturing process"; and that Spencer, who came from Manchester, "filed over 42 patents to his name including a steam-powered buggy."

There was also some more recent history: "In the early 1970s, the site of the old Billings and Spencer Company was resurrected as affordable housing. In 2005, it was acquired by the Melville Charitable Trust as part of their investment in the Frog Hollow neighborhood. Billings and Spencer Co. tools are still prized by collectors and can often be found online. They are marked with a triangle-enclosed 'B.'"

Knowing all that, I hate to admit I once simply thought of it as "that big thing with the cool tower."

For more about Billings Forge Community Works, visit their website, billingsforgeworks.org.