Connecticut Fat Rendering and Fertilizing Corporation

 







Connecticut Fat Rendering and Fertilizing Corporation was created in the 1900s to establish a cooperative where local butchers and meat market men would reduce the cost and dispose of unwanted animal byproducts during the processing of animals for human consumption. Starting with an initial capital of $50,000 and 2000 shares divided among the businessmen of the meat processing industry. This led to the funding and erection of the building which finally began operation in September 1903. Jacob W. Everett was the president of the company. The plant was primarily used for fat rendering creating byproducts such as glue, tallow, poultry feed, and fertilizer. Fat rendering recovers fats and proteins from otherwise discarded animal byproducts. 

Tallow is made up of the rendered suet of animal fat cooked down from the animal waste products such as the bones, head, feet, and organs. Poultry feed is made when the blood, feathers, soft meat, dead-on-arrival carcasses, and deboning tissue are rid of pathogens and infectious organisms by high heat, oil is separated and extracted and the dry material is ground into a powder suitable for bone meal, whole meal and other various types of meals for farm nutrition products. 













The factory continued operating until 1950 when it became vacant. That same year it was acquired by Connecticut Motor Lines, Inc., a New Haven trucking company that also went out of business in 1958 due to bankruptcy. The year I explored the site it was used for storing car and truck rubber tires in one building and empty and barren in others. No equipment or machinery was present in its past days as a meat fat processing facility. Only crude graffiti and various household junk were all that was left inside.

The site is currently being used as a construction aggregate material holding area.





















Current status: Demolished



Sources:

1. Brown, S. John, "Ground Water in the New Haven Area Connecticut", Connecticut State Geological & Natural History Survey

2. Mavitec Rendering, 'Poultry Rendering", Mavitec Rendering

3. Miller, Michelle, "Livestock 101: What is animal rendering?", AgDaily, February 2, 2022


Location: 239 Front Ave, West Haven, CT 06516, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Historic Killingly Ballouville Mill

Image
  As I recall that April day in 2018, the memory unfolds with the vividness of a carefully preserved photograph. The sky, a vast expanse of unyielding blue, served as the perfect backdrop for our excursion. J and I, driven by curiosity and a keen sense of adventure, stood at the threshold of the historic Ballouville Mill in Killingly, Connecticut. This relic of a bygone industrial era was nestled imposingly between two homes as if guarding the secrets of its storied past. Our entry into the mill was less an act of intrusion and more a gentle push through time's veil. An opening – not quite a door, nor a window – beckoned us into the heart of a forgotten world. Inside, the mill presented itself as a cathedral of industry, now silent and solemn. Wooden beams and columns, like the ribs of a great leviathan, stretched upwards, supporting the weight of history and time. The machinery, once the pulsing heart of this place, had long since ceased their hum of productivity. In their absence
Read more

Doorway on the Passaic River

Image
In the realm of industrial history along the Passaic River in Northern New Jersey lies a captivating tale of an oil company's struggle for survival against the evolving landscape of progress. Amidst the modernization of Route 21 in the 1950s, the Riverbank Petroleum Company later renamed to Northern New Jersey Oil Company stood as a fierce opponent to the development. Their existence pivoted on the river's access, a lifeline for their business. Relinquishing it meant demise, so they fiercely contested the eminent domain battles. Ultimately, a compromise was reached: a tunnel beneath McCarter Highway, enabling oil transportation without disrupting the flow of the newly expanded route. Riverbank Petroleum Company Wharf had its last recorded shipment of under 2,000 tons of fuel oils in 1997. Time has seen the oil company fade into history, leaving behind an abandoned, flooded tunnel. However, a peculiar sight remains – a doorway, a relic from the past, etched onto the side of Rou
Read more

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Newark Paint Plant

Image
  Here we find ourselves, reminiscing about the now abandoned factory walls that once pulsed with vibrant colors. The irony is delightful and surreal. A property that once contributed world-class paints for an array of applications from household to military-grade, now wears a patchwork of graffiti, as aerosol artists exploit its crumbling facade. Today, the site is cordoned off by a formidable galvanized steel gate, its adjacent grounds appropriated for tractor-trailer parking and storage, while the building itself remains in a state of disuse. Over the years, it has served as a temporary shelter for the homeless, a playground for mischievous teenagers, and a backdrop for adventurous photographers and explorers. Access to the property has now been barred, in stark contrast to a time when you could casually tread the train tracks onto the site. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company's Newark Operations The property in question, situated at 29 Riverside Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, was hom
Read more

Former 75th Police Precinct Station House Renovated

Image
From Policemen to Priests: A Timeline of the Precinct-Turned Church   In the heart of the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, a piece of the city's history stands resilient against the march of time. The corner of Liberty and Miller Avenue hosts the formidable visage of what was once the 75th Police Precinct Station House. With its 19th-century bones and layered past, this station is a chronicle of the urban evolution, from its humble beginnings as the 17th Police Precinct—boasting a modest band of 38 men—to a bustling precinct accommodating 60 patrolmen, 14 horses, and a curious duo of police cats. This remarkable transition was ushered in by Captain Hugh Frank Gorman and his team on a balmy summer day, June 2, 1982. In its heyday, this precinct governed the largest territory in New York City, a sprawling nine-square-mile jurisdiction stretching from the fringes of Queens County to the town of Flatbush, and from the waters of Jamaica Bay to the county line. Within this labyrin
Read more

Rockaway Metal Products Corporation

Image
Rockaway Metals Products (RMP) began as a sheet metal fabrication factory beginning in 1961. RMP occupied the site from 1971 to 1987 leaving a plethora of hazardous waste materials onsite. From 1990 to 2004 the building housed various tenants which even included an auto repair shop. Rockaway Metals a manufacturer of filing cabinets and other metal products closed down in 1987. It was leased a few years ago to different owners who did not manage the 4.85-acre parcel. The 155,000-square-foot building has long been an eyesore and trouble in the neighborhood since its closure. A coastal storm in March 2018 blew debris materials to adjacent properties. Rockaway Metals was acquired by Nassau County in 1995 by tax deed. The county has held onto the property for 22-plus years. In February 2011, the site was damaged by fire and condemned soon thereafter. For more in-depth legal ownership of the property, you can read more below in the source list under U.S. v. 175 INWOOD ASSOCIATES LLP.
Read more