The Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill: Working and Organizational Strife

The Gilbert and Bennett Manufacturing Co. became a catalyst for change in Georgetown. Wilton Historical Society Director Nick Foster discusses the mill’s workers, the conditions they faced, and the enduring legacy they left behind.

The Gilbert and Bennett Manufacturing Company traced its roots to 18th-century hand-woven, homemade horsehair sieves. As the 1800s progressed, the company quickly grew. By the mid-19th century, the company exported products across the country and its workforce was diverse – a stark contrast with the local farming community of descendants of the town’s earliest English colonizers.

In this lecture, Nick Foster examines the workers that made the Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Co. an industrial giant.

Co-Sponsor: Wilton Historical Society

Destination: Georgetown, Part Two

Join us for a five-part lecture series, Destination: Georgetown, where we explore the impact of the Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Company on the development of Georgetown and surrounding towns.

The Destination: Georgetown lecture series will explore the lived experience of the Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill complex in Georgetown and its involvement in the creation of “place.” Closed in 1989, the mill remains a landmark tied to the development of the area – the settlement of Swedish immigrants, education and the construction of a school, and the local labor movement. This lecture series will present a new look at the mill and help understand Georgetown as a place of cooperation and diversity.

Photo Courtesy of Elyse Shapiro Photography