Inventor and industrialist Oberlin Smith founded the Ferracute Machine Company in 1863, and constructed the current Queen Anne-style headquarters building and Main Machine Shop in 1904.  The new structures were designed to be fire resistant.  The company produced pressed metal parts for a variety of machinery throughout the world.  The three-acre site operated until 1968.  This is the last historic industrial site in Bridgeton, once an important regional industrial center.

The operations closed at the site in 1968 and the buildings have since remained vacant. After trying unsuccessfully to interest private developers to reuse the site, the city of Bridgeton acquired the building in 2007.

The 2007 grant helped fund the preparation of a Phase I Archaeological Survey of the site. A previous Trust grant helped fund a preservation plan and design charette to explore opportunities for adaptive use.

For more information, visit: http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/MIND_Repository_Details.aspx?rep_id=1367