Button Factory for Sale

Property owner Peter Dalton had a large sign placed in front of his West Main Street factory building on Thursday, announcing the 3.2 acre site is for sale. Dalton, who owns the adjacent Dalton Enterprises Company on Willow Street, has owned the factory building since 1996. 

The 1850 historic building with its castle-like coat-of-arms over the entrance, is one of Cheshire's lasting ties to its manufacturing history.

According to the , the adjacent railroad line and the Farmington Canal allowed for industrial growth in the area, which took on its own identity as West Cheshire.

The Cheshire Manufacturing Company, founded in 1850, was just one of several factories built near the rail line but the button factory, as it's commonly known, is the only building to remain.

The factory, which made ivory combs and buttons, later changed its name to the Ball and Socket Company, which made metal stampings and buttons.

The gracious and large homes which still flank West Main Street are reminders of the wealth that the successful factory brought to the officers and owners, who built their stately residences just up the hill from the plant.

Dalton could not be reached for comment on the listed price of the property.