Torrington Company

Torrington Bearing Manufacturing Company
FormerlyExcelsior Needle Company
FoundedFebruary 1866 (as the Excelsior Needle Company)

The Torrington Company was a firm that developed in Torrington, Connecticut, originally called the Excelsior Needle Company. It was formed in 1866 around the new idea of using a "cold swaging" technique to create better sewing machine needles, but also produced a lot of other things as it got bigger, since the 1950/ focusing mainly on producing bearings, especially needle bearings.[1][needs update] In 1980, it was the largest employer in Torrington.[2]

In 1968, the management sold the company to Ingersoll Rand.[1] It was later purchased in 2003 by the Timken Company.[3] That company ceased all operations in Torrington and shut down the plants in 2006. The rest of the heavy bearing plants and needle bearing plants were eventually sold to JTEKT in 2009.[3] Most of the factory buildings in Torrington were demolished in 2023.[4]

  1. ^ a b International directory of company histories. Vol. 13. Detroit, Mich.: St. James Press. 1996. ISBN 978-1-55862-654-6.
  2. ^ Ransom, David F. “National Registration of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: James Alldis House”. United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, 16 March 1982.https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/82004480.pdf
  3. ^ a b Timken Press Release Archived 2013-09-22 at archive.today
  4. ^ Sheedy, Jack. "Torrington Co. demolition ceremony marks end of an era". The Register Citizen. Retrieved 2024-02-10.