Ames Manufacturing Company
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Ames Manufacturing Company
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Ames Privilege
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| Location | Chicopee, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°8′57″N 72°36′24″W / 42.14917°N 72.60667°WCoordinates: 42°8′57″N 72°36′24″W / 42.14917°N 72.60667°W |
| Built | 1847 |
| Architect | McClallan,Charles |
| Architectural style | Early Republic, Greek Revival, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | |
| Added to NRHP | June 23, 1983 |
Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools and cutlery in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a major provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the Union in the Civil War. They also forged a number of bronze statuary which can be found throughout New England.
The Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in a factory established in 1774 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by the Ames family. Brothers Nathan P. Ames, Jr. and James T. Ames moved their tool and cutlery business to a new industrial town on the Chicopee River near Springfield, Massachusetts in 1829. They were invited by Edmund Dwight, who owned textile mills nearby. The Ames company soon moved to manufacturing swords for the federal government and state militias.
As the town of Chicopee was formed in 1848, the Ames brothers were leaders in the new community. Upon the death of Nathan P. Ames in 1847, ownership of the company turned to younger brother James Tyler Ames.
By 1835, the company was creating works in brass and bronze, and in 1845, an iron foundry was added. The company used the foundries for casting statuary as well for producing as military cannons and cannonballs.
The bronze doors of the East Wing of the United States Capitol and Daniel Chester French's Minuteman statue at the Lexington-Concord bridge were cast at the Ames company. Other statues included large equestrian statues of George Washington (at the Boston Public Garden and in Washington, D.C.), a statue of Benjamin Franklin (Boston), and a statue of Major John Mason.
When the Mexican War came, the foundry's primary output switched to armament.
Upon the secession of the South, the Union lost access to their southern arsenals. Therefore, independent arms manufacturers were crucial to the success of the Union army. Ames was one of the Union’s most important manufacturers of side arms, swords, and light artillery, and the third largest producer of heavy ordnance.
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