Winchester Lofts

275 Winchester Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511

Winchester’s massive brick and steel structures encapsulate the ebb and flow of industrialization that has shaped Northeastern cities since the Civil War. Incorporated a year after the war’s end, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was such a force in nineteenth-century New Haven that it sustained an entire working-class neighborhood. Cropping up around the extensive industrial complex designed by Leoni Robinson, the Winchester Triangle survives today as a prime example of 1800s vernacular architecture. The arms-and-ammunition business boomed through the turn of the 20thcentury, with big-name devotees like President Theodore Roosevelt ensuring the popularity of the “rifle that won the West.” Economic triumph translated to community well-being: as Winchester profited from arms sales during both World Wars, civic institutions like the interracial Winchester Rifles basketball team allowed New Haveners to interact across racial boundaries. 

Despite advertisements touting Winchester rifles and shotguns as “extra strong and safe,” however, the Winchester plant followed the trend of urban deindustrialization that would define New Haven and the rest of the Northeast until the end of the 20thcentury. The company’s sales declined—and labor disputes increased—just as New Haven’s African-American population swelled after World War II, leaving black Dixwell residents with fewer jobs near their homes. After years of deterioration, the complex closed down in 2006, leaving a vacant, decaying behemoth at the heart of the city’s northern neighborhoods. 

By the 2010s, however, the Winchester plant had joined in yet another urban trend: the preservation and adaptive reuse of America’s industrial heritage. Incentivized by City Hall, Forest City Residential Group redeveloped some of Winchester’s main buildings into 158 mixed-income lofts. The refurbished complex, Winchester Lofts, attracts residents by emphasizing its industrial past—and its all-too-recent decay. Other sections of the old Winchester Plant have been turned into storefronts and Science Park, a Yale-affiliated tech incubator. Following the example of other adaptive reuse projects (like Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco), the Winchester complex has been transformed from a vacant, dilapidated factory into a commercial and residential hub. With rents reaching over $1,800 a month, however, it’s unclear that the new Winchester can sustain a neighborhood as diverse and working-class as the old.  

Researcher

Robert Scaramuccia

Date Researched

Entry Created

July 9, 2018 at 2:21 PM EST

Last Updated

July 18, 2018 at 2:25 PM EST by null

Historic Name

Style

Other

Current Use

Residential

Era

1860-19101980-Today

Neighborhood

Other

Tours

Year Built

1870 (original buildings, now demolished)

Architect

Leoni Robinson (original complex, multiple additions)

Current Tenant

Winchester Lofts

Roof Types

Structural Conditions

Very Good

Street Visibilities

Yes

Threats

External Conditions

Dimensions

Street Visibilities

Yes

Owner

Winchester Lofts, LLC

Ownernishp Type

Client

Oliver Winchester

Historic Uses

IndustrialManufacturing

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The restored facade of the Winchester Lofts residential complex. Only a portion of the original factory has been rehabilitated; this view obscures that fact. From Wessling Architects.
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1915 Illustration of the Winchester complex. Photo credit: Historical New Haven Digital Collection (HNHDC).
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1876 aerial illustration of the Winchester plant. Photo credit: HNHDC.
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Aerial view of the Winchester complex. From Winchester Lofts.
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Land owned by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, as shown in the 1911 City Atlas. Note how Winchester owned land abutting its central complex.
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Oliver Winchester, the founder of Winchester Repeating Arms. From Winchester Lofts
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Winchester war workers at the YMCA, 1939. From HNHDC.
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The Winchester Band, 1940-1950. From HNHDC.
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The Winchester Band, 1947. From HNHDC.
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Union Soldiers with Henry rifles, the precursors to Winchester rifles.
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A Winchester theatrical production, 1947. From HNHDC.
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The Winchester Rifles basketball team, c. 1945. From HNHDC.
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Theodore Roosevelt holding a Winchester rifle. From Popular Mechanics.
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President Roosevelt's letter to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. From Winchester Lofts.
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Suffragettes rallying outside the Winchester plant, 1916. Women would not gain the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920. From HNHDC.
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Suffragettes rallying outside the Winchester plant, 1916. Women would not gain the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920. From HNHDC.
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Facade of the Winchester plant. From Winchester Lofts.
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1866 Winchester rifle patent.
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Interior of the Winchester plant. From Winchester Lofts.
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Interior of the Winchester plant. From Winchester Lofts.
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Interior of the Winchester plant. From Winchester Lofts.
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A Winchester employee, standing next to more than a dozen Winchester rifles. From Winchester Lofts.
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A Winchester poster in Spanish, featuring a female hunter on horseback. From Winchester Lofts.
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In this magazine advertisement, a father tells his son that the Winchester mark means his gun is "extra strong and safe." By the time this ad was published, Winchester had been bought by the Western Cartridge Company, which was owned by the Olin family. From ARTSTOR
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A 1955 Winchester ad. Note that Winchester was by then owned by the Olin Corporation. From Winchester Lofts.
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A poster advertising the "Wonderful Topperweins," sharpshooters boasting Winchester rifles and ammunition. From Winchester Lofts.
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Winchester sporting rifle advertisement, 1898.
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Winchester rifle inset, sporting a detailed natural scene. From Winchester Lofts.
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1973 Sanborn map displaying the extent of Olin's holdings. (Sanborn Co., 1973)
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1973 Sanborn map displaying the extent of Olin's holdings. (Sanborn Co., 1973)
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The Winchester plant, late in the 20th century. Falling sales and labor disputes are here reflected in the structure's poor external condition. R. Ellickson, Yale Visual Resource Collection.
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The dilapidated Winchester complex, as seen from Munson Street in the late 20th century. From the Yale Visual Resources Collection.
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Winchester's abandoned, decaying interior, photographed sometime after 2006. Uploaded to the website of Winchester Lofts, suggesting that the structure's past deterioration contributes to its present residential appeal.
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Winchester's decaying brick exterior, with shattered windows. Photographed sometime after 2006. Uploaded to the website of Winchester Lofts, suggesting that the structure's past deterioration contributes to its present residential appeal.
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Brick facade restored by Forest City to attract residents to Winchester Lofts. From Winchester Lofts.
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A rendering of a studio apartment in Winchester Lofts. From Winchester Lofts.
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Winchester Lofts's 2-bedroom apartment floor plan. From Winchester Lofts.
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Winchester Lofts's 2-bedroom apartment floor plan. From Winchester Lofts.
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Winchester Lofts's 1-bedroom floor plan. From Winchester Lofts.
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Interior of a Winchester Lofts apartment. The old factory makes its presence felt through the brick wall, wooden ceiling, and large windows. From Winchester Lofts.

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