Britva.Ru

Waterville Cutlery was located on the Naugatuck River in the Waterville section of Waterbury Ct. This was a heavily industrialized area at the time, with many factories utilizing the river as a power source for machines. There are still many bits and pieces of the old factories left along the river, including a couple small dams and granite waterway for a waterwheel. A couple of the old factories are still standing in part also. The shop was not far from the site of the Chase Brass works. There were a number of cutlery shops in that area along the river, Waterville being one of the larger firms. Waterbury Knife Co was nearby, and Thomaston Knife Co wasn't too far away to the north, as was Northfield Knife Co. The Naugatuck Knife Co was a couple miles to the south.
As far as the company goes, it went through 3 or 4 iterations over the years from the mid 1800s to about 1913. It was founded in 1843, went bankrupt and was sold several times. In 1847 the new owners started Waterville Manufacturing Co with about 50 employees brought from the cutlery shops of Sheffield England. This lasted about 7 years, when there were some problems and the company was forced to close. The company was brought back some 5 or so years later as Waterville Cutlery, part of the firm of Sprague and Boyden.(Theres still streets there with those names) In 1890, the company was again sold, and it lasted until 1913 when it was placed in receivership. New owners from the midwest bought everything and moved the cutlery operation several miles away to Hotchkissville.