The Colt Armory
Founded in 1836 as the Patent Fire Arms Co. of Patterson, NJ by Samuel Colt to manufacture his patented revolver. The company failed in 1842. With the coming of the Mexican War in 1846, Colt received two orders for 1,000 revolvers each, which he had manufactured by the Whitney Armory in New Haven, CT, under his direct supervision. In 1848, Colt moved to Hartford, CT and rented a small factory there. He began building the Colt Armory in 1853-1854, south of the city on the river-front.
The armory was in the form of an "H", 500 feet long and 3½ stories high. It contained over 1,400 metalworking machines, the greater part of which were designed and built on the premises.
In 1849, Colt hired Elisha K. Root as his plant superintendent. Mr. Root went on to invent and manufacture many of the machines necessary to produce Mr. Colt's revolvers on a large, mass production scale.
Thomas J. Fales of New York City was agent for the Colt's Baxter engines in 1878, when they appeared in his catalog.
Information Sources
- American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 57
- American Milling Machine Builders: 1820-1920 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2007, page74
- English & American Machine Builders, by Joseph Wickham Roe, 1916
- OWWM.org thread on Colt Motor Starters.
- The Baxter Steam Engine for Sale by Thomas J. Fales, 1878