Iconic Ansonia

With the announcement of funding for redevelopment of the American Brass and Farrel industrial sites in the center of Ansonia, one of the most iconic survivals of Connecticut industry will likely become a thing only of memory and photographs. The Naugatuck Valley played a central role in the creation of industrial America, but from Shelton to Winsted there are few remnants or monuments to tell future generations what went on here. Unique among survivals are these remarkable sculptures that climb over the old casting shop of American Brass along the Naugatuck in Ansonia. Mike, who ran the last furnace in this shop said there were once 30 furnaces casting alloys here. The furnaces needed air, and the exhaust had to be scrubbed and filtered. The residue had to be carried away in giant bundles.

Perhaps it is foolish to think they could or should be saved. To some this baghouse is an eyesore, nothing but a rusty muffler, but I would guess future generations would see it quite differently, a 20th century solution to pollution control. On this patch of ground Almon Farrel and Anson Phelps built the canal and factories that made Ansonia. Could a bag house become, not an eyesore, but an icon of industries and struggles that built Connecticut that will lie along the riverwalk that is creeping closer both from north and south?