The Reed and Barton Complex is a historic industrial complex at West Brittania and Danforth Streets in
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in and the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River, which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. As of the 2020 United States ...
. It is the site of one of Taunton's first and largest industries, now known as
Reed & Barton
Reed & Barton was a prominent American silversmith manufacturer based in the city of Taunton, Massachusetts, operating between 1824 and 2015. Its products include sterling silver and silverplate flatware. The company produced many varieties of b ...
, a privately held
silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...
ing business that operated from 1824 to 2015. The company's success was instrumental in Taunton becoming known as the "Silver City". The complex was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1984.
Description and history
The Reed and Barton Complex occupies of land straddling the
Mill River, north of Taunton's central business district. It is bounded on the north by West Britannia Street, on the west by Barton Street, and to the south and east by Danforth Street. The core of the complex is two series of connected brick buildings, built between 1830 and 1890, that flank the river banks. Perpendicular to the series on the east bank of the river is a mansard-roofed three-story building that housed the company's executive offices and showrooms. A number of later 20th-century buildings occupy outlying parts of the property. The complex also includes two surviving instances of mill worker housing, which were built on the mill property c. 1855.
[
Henry Reed and Charles Barton moved their business to this site in 1830, and rapidly developed an international reputation for their pewterware. Reed & Barton was incorporated in 1888, and expanded into silver production, acquiring smaller companies as it grew.]
See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Taunton, Massachusetts