Gloversville Continental Mills

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After the Fire: What Remains of Gloversville Continental Mills A Field of Bricks The bricks were everywhere. Not stacked, not standing. Just scattered across the ground like something vast had simply let go. What used to be Mill No. 3 of the former Gloversville-Continental Mills now spread out before me like a field of rubble, stretching from Beaver Street all the way back to the Cayadutta Creek bank. Thousands of bricks, the same ones that had held this building upright through more than a century of American manufacturing history, lay in random heaps with nowhere left to go. In one corner, pressed against a sealed-off wall, sat what remained of steel beams, HVAC machinery, and other miscellaneous load-bearing beams and the remains of 40 historical knitting machines. The fire had taken everything soft about them. What was left were twisted red-brown skeletons of rust and charred metal, piled on top of each other like they had tried to hold on and failed. Standing there in the ...
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Abandoned Home Goods Manufacturer (Bilco Co.)

🏗️ Development Update — The Former Bilco Company Site

This site was the former Bilco Company, which manufactured basement hatchways, garage doors, sidewalk doors, and roof hatches on Water Street in West Haven, Connecticut. The factory was demolished as of July 31, 2022. Surrounding residential houses were fenced and boarded in preparation for future demolition and the planned Haven Mall Outlet project.

By April 13, 2023, houses north of Richards Street and east of First Avenue had been demolished. However, The Haven Mall Outlet project has since been scuttled. The vacant lot now languishes, waiting for a new vision that has yet to arrive.



Milling about with gleeful abandon.

I finally checked out this complex from a depressing neighborhood where houses are boarded and vehicular traffic is always substantially busy. I was astonished at how easy it was to access the complex. I had previously seen kids hanging around by the water playing around on a previous visit whilst using my DJI Phantom 4 drone.



















Upon entering the property I feared the worst. Local kids may have already trashed the property based on the numerous windows busted out. Entering inside my fears were appeased. Inside was comfortably clean and unblemished from graffiti and shitty craft. It seemed the complex could be cleaned up and put to use with a little TLC and back into a hub of commerce. The offices on the other hand needed substantial renovation. A shame the previous owners left to move to another part of the state. The property provided a substantial view out to the water. Standing inside a side doorway. I could see many previous employees taking a smoke break and taking in the calming water lapping against the property.
















I had the entire place to myself. I milled about to my heart's content until I finally got all the shots I required. A prime location for a model photoshoot if I shot models. 💁
































































🏭 Did You Work at the Bilco Company?

Were you or a family member employed at the Bilco Company on Water Street in West Haven? Did you build basement hatchways, garage doors, or roof hatches in this factory? Do you have photos from inside when the plant was still humming, old product catalogs, or memories of this Connecticut manufacturer? With the factory demolished in 2022 and the outlet mall project abandoned, your firsthand accounts are the primary record of this vanished industrial site.

Drop a comment below or contact me directly. Full credit given to all contributors.

🏭 More Connecticut Industrial History
From basement hatchways and hairpins to brass buttons and paper mills — explore the factories that once powered Connecticut's manufacturing towns.
🏭 The Bilco Company manufactured basement hatchways and roof hatches on Water Street in West Haven. The factory was demolished in 2022, and the planned Haven Mall Outlet project has been abandoned.

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