Naugatuck Plastics

Company History: Due to an increase in the price of sulfuric acid, which was needed to reclaim used rubber at the time, the United States Rubber Co. formed the Naugatuck Chemical Company subsidiary on June 1, 1904. This company started manufacturing sulfuric acid and was soon in the forefront of the chemical industry in the United States. Commodore Elias P. Benedict was the president, the position he held until 1914; James B. Ford was vice president; Charles E. Sholes, secretary; and Matthew Adgate, a veteran of acid manufacture, was plant superintendent. Adgate later became vice president. The plant, which was located on Elm Street and the railroad, had 43 buildings on twenty acres along the Naugatuck River. The company manufactured sulfuric acid, nitric acid, muriatic acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetic acid, nitrobenzene, aniline, and antimony sulfides. This was one of the larger concerns of Naugatuck, employing 160 people.

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