Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 X State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register _ Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National _ Local government Register - . University _ designated a National Historic Landmark - Other - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: _recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # G. H. Bent Company Factory Name of Property Norfolk County, Massachusetts County and State 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property less than one acre UTM References See continuation sheet.
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1.19 Zone 329260 Easting 4678840 Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing 3. Zone 4. Easting Zone Easting _See continuation sheet Northing Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11. Form Prepared By name/title Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC, and James F. Pierotti, Director of Operations, G. H.
Bent Company organization Massachusetts Historical Commission _ date January 2000 street& number220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston _stateMA _zip code_02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO forany additional items) Property Owner (Completethis item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name G. H.
Bent Company street & number 7 Pleasant Street _telephone (617) 698-5945 city or town_ Milton state_ MA zip code 02186 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form.
Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form tothe Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.NPS Form 10-900 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA Narrative Description The G. H. Bent Company Factory (7 Pleasant Street, Milton, MHC #26) is a wood-frame industrial building constructed in 1892. The factory faces the intersection of Pleasant Street and Randolph Avenue (Route 28) in a closely settled residential area.
A masonry water trough for horses still occupies the north corner of the intersection, directly across the street from (west of) the factory. The slope of the factory property inclines from west to east, and the factory is built into the grade. The façade of the building is set back approximately twenty feet from Pleasant Street. Immediately north of the factory is a right-of-way that functions as the driveway and a parking area for the factory. A garage building, shown on the town's assessors' maps, once occupied the eastern end of the right-of-way behind the cracker factory. This garage was demolished about 1995, and the garage site is still visible in the asphalt pavement of the driveway. For the purpose of this nomination, the garage location is a contributing site. North of the nominated property on Pleasant Street is a ca.
1920s vacant store building, which once housed a neighborhood market and has been closed for fifty years. East of (behind) the property is a wooded area near the town's former landfill. Closed in 1998, the landfill was created from open land and filled-in quarries. A golf course is scheduled to be constructed on a portion of the landfill site. On a separate lot immediately south of the nominated property is the former residence of George H. Bent (672 Randolph Avenue, not inventoried), a corner of which extends within five feet of the southernmost wall of the factory. The house is not included in the nomination. Exterior The factory building is roughly rectangular in massing, and includes two side projections or wings, a loading platform, and an attached rear shed. The main block, which measures approximately forty feet by sixty feet, is four bays across and about six bays deep.
It rises two stories from a raised basement, displaying three full floors on the façade. The foundation and basement are constructed of granite that was quarried nearby. Six-inch cedar clapboard siding is original, having been restored in 1993 when imitation brick cladding, installed in 1948, was removed. At the time of the restoration, the clapboards were painted their original light gray color and the window shutters, which date to 1924 and possibly earlier, were reinstalled. The low-pitched hipped roof is tar and gravel. There are two brick interior chimneys: a short square chimney at the south (side) elevation and a taller, rectangular chimney near the east (rear) wall. An important feature of the main block is the retail shop, which occupies its original space on the ground-floor level at the southwestern corner of the building.
Display windows in the second and fourth bays on the façade (west elevation) flank the store entry. The wood door in this entry has glazed sixteen-light sash in the upper half and is original. A shed- roofed hood on brackets originally shielded this entry; the hood and brackets were removed by 1924. The display windows now contain fixed single-light sash with safety glass. Many other windows on the main block contain 6/6 wood sash, though two stair hall windows on the north (side) elevation have six lights only. Some windows, on the upper levels of the façade in particular, contain 1/1 sash with snap- in muntins. Additional entries on the main block include a narrow, overhead shipping door (replaced in 1960) on the ground floor façade next to the retail space.
Another entry, in the third bay of the south (side) elevation, was created in 1921 from a former window opening when the company G. H. Bent Company built the adjacent brick oven wing (see (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA below). This entry, located on the first (upper) floor, now has a porch and stair constructed of pressure-treated lumber leading to the ground and a shed-roofed hood on plain wood supports. It was used as the shop entrance until 1995, and is now only used as a secondary means of egress. On the north (side) elevation is another overhead shipping door, located at the loading platform, which was constructed of concrete block in the late 1930s.
This wood door is divided into twelve panels, and the six glazed panels in the upper half of the door contain fixed lights. The wood-frame lateral wing on the south (side elevation) toward the rear of the building is present in an 1893 photograph of the factory and appears to be original. This wing, which measures about twenty-five feet by thirty-five feet, is one story, five bays by three bays, with clapboard siding, a shed roof, a small brick chimney, and the same granite block foundation seen at the main block. Windows on this wing contain 6/6 wood sash. Two windows flank an entry on the south wall, which is about five feet from the rear of the former Bent house on the adjacent property. The entry contains a five-paneled wood door. Historically, brick Dutch ovens were present on the rear wall of this wing.
The ovens were built into sand banks, which would retain the oven heat for weeks. The brick ovens at this location were removed in the 1940s and the rear wall of this wing is now finished in concrete block. Directly in front (west) of the wood-frame lateral wing is a one-story, two-bay by one-bay, brick oven addition with a shallow-pitched gable roof and a concrete foundation. Built in 1921, this brick oven addition, which measures sixteen feet by twelve feet, was gutted of bricks in 1947 and converted to use as a cookie storage room. At that time, a pair of windows was added to the façade elevation of this wing. These windows contain multi-light metal hopper sash; there is no sash at the basement level. This addition retains three star-shaped iron tie rods on the south wall and a small brick interior chimney at the southeast corner.
Spanning the width of the east (rear) elevation of the factory is an attached wood-frame storage shed, accessible from both inside and outside the factory. The one-story shed, which measures forty feet square, has a shallow-pitched gable roof of asphalt shingle and exterior cladding that consists of vertical boards and tarpaper. Remnants of the imitation brick siding installed on the factory in 1948 are still visible in the gable end. The shed was used for the storage of fagots, or bundles of oak twigs that were gathered from the woods behind the factory to fuel the Dutch brick ovens from 1891 to ca. 1947. Connecting the storage shed with the main block is the 1930s loading area, which is on the north (side) elevation. The loading dock extends beyond the main block to a full-height, single-bay, rear extension with a shed roof.
This extension displays brick walls on the first floor and vertical-board siding above. The exterior of the cracker factory was renovated in 1994. At that time, imitation brick siding, installed in 1948, was removed, revealing the light gray paint color that was present since at least 1944, when the Pierotti family acquired the building. Local tradition holds that the factory always was painted light gray. Safety glass was installed in the display windows of the retail shop. Other improvements have been made to the site since 1995 to enhance the appearance of the property and improve accessibility. A small area in front of the building, formerly a three-car parking lot, has been enclosed with a wooden picket fence to create a courtyard, planted with shrubs and flowers and lit by two contemporary lampposts.
A handicapped-accessible ramp leads from the courtyard at ground level to a mahogany deck built at the entrance to the retail shop. The ramp is appropriately scaled to the historic factory and does not compromise the historic (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 3 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA architectural integrity of the building. A new (1999) standing sign (white with dark lettering) has been installed on the lawn southwest of the factory. Near this standing sign is a granite pier (late 19" century?), which forms the northernmost end of a granite wall extending from the former Bent residence at 672 Randolph Avenue to the edge of the factory lot.
For the purpose of this nomination, the granite pier is a contributing object, and the standing sign and two lampposts are noncontributing objects by virtue of their recent vintage. Interior The interior is divided into four principal areas: the retail shop, shipping and receiving, the bakery, and storage. The retail shop occupies its original ground-floor location. Closed for over eighty years, the shop was reopened December 9, 1995. For most of the 20" century, the shop area was used for the storage of bakery supplies. Before the shop was reopened as a retail space, the horizontal beadboard walls were painted and a new hardwood floor was installed. A coal- burning stove that had been located in the store was removed in 1946, but the chimney and thimble remain. A wood-clad walk-in refrigerator, which is at least sixty years old, was once located in the shop area.
This refrigerator was disassembled and rebuilt in the ground floor area of the adjacent kitchen, which is behind the retail shop. A Federal Case Freezer, which also is at least sixty years old, is located here as well. There is new quarry tile on the floor, and in January 1997 a drop ceiling with florescent lighting was installed. Shipping and receiving activities are located adjacent to the store on the ground level, as indicated by the overhead exterior doors on the west (façade) and north (side) elevations. A stair running along the inside north wall of the factory leads to the bakery on the first (upper level) floor. There are two surviving Dutch ovens located in the easterly end of the building. Original wood-paneled walls in the bakery are painted white, as are the brick Dutch ovens. Floors on this level are mostly the original hardwood.
The same hardwood floors and painted wood-panel walls survive on the top floor, which is used for storage of primarily paper goods. The space is unheated and is not air-conditioned. A new HVAC system was installed in November 1995 in the balance of the factory, but its presence does not compromise the integrity of this industrial building. The factory had a water-run elevator that was deemed unsafe and was replaced in 1995 with a vertical hydraulic conveyor (elevator). The mechanism for the water-run elevator survives on the top floor of the factory. Archaeological Description While no prehistoric sites are recorded on the property, sites may be present. Eight prehistoric sites are recorded in the general area (within one mile). One site, the Massachusetts Hornfels Braintree Slate Quarry is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Environmental characteristics of the property also represent several locational criteria (slope, drainage, distance to wetlands) that are favorable indicators for many types of prehistoric sites. The property is well drained and moderately inclines from west to east with the factory built into grade. Freshwater wetlands are also present approximately 1000 feet or slightly more to the south. Given the above information, the size of the property (2.79 acres) and the extent of historic landuse in the area, a moderate potential exists for the recovery of prehistoric resources on the factory property. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7/8 Page 4/1 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H.
Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA A high potential exists for the recovery of historic archaeological resources on the nominated property. Filled granite quarries are known to exist in the vicinity including quarries in the wooded area behind the factory on the nominated property. Granite remaining in the quarries may contain scars associated with the actual mining process of granite from the quarries. Quarry pits may also contain actual equipment and/or structural evidence of mounting platforms used during quarrying activities. Structural evidence may also exist from transportation facilities used to remove granite from the quarries. Evidence from outbuildings used for manufacturing activities or to store equipment, tools and explosives may also be present on the property. Structural evidence from a two car garage, demolished in 1993, may also survive.
Archaeological evidence from refuse areas associated with the factory or quarrying activities may also exist. (end) 8. Statement of Significance The G. H. Bent Company Factory, 7 Pleasant Street, Milton (MHC #26), is an important survival of the town's late 19"'-century industrial development. George Bent incorporated his water cracker manufacturing business in 1891. Ninety years before, Bent's grandfather, Josiah Bent, also of Milton, launched what is believed to have been the first manufacture of water crackers in the nation. The water cracker is the crisp, dry ship's biscuit commonly known as hard tack. By the turn of the 20" century, the National Biscuit Company conglomerate had absorbed the business established by Josiah Bent, and phased out its Milton operations in 1926. This left the G. H.
Bent Company as the sole successor in Milton of the water cracker business founded by Josiah Bent in 1801. While the architect and builder of the G. H. Bent Company building have not been determined, the factory is one of few intact industrial buildings remaining in Milton, and is particularly noteworthy for the continuation of its original use for over a century. Retaining integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, the G. H. Bent Company Factory meets Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places and is significant on the local level. Situated in the Neponset River valley, Milton is an affluent suburban town bordered by Boston on the north, Quincy on the east and south, Randolph on the south, and Canton on the west. The Neponset River defines the town's northern border.
Randolph Avenue, a segment of the regional artery known as Route 28, passes through the geographic center of town, from Milton Village on the Neponset River south to the town's Quincy border. The G. H. Bent Company Factory is located at the Randolph Avenue intersection with Pleasant Street, approximately three-quarters of a mile southeast of Milton Town Hall. Milton was settled in 1634 as part of the town of Dorchester. The Neponset tribe of Massachusetts Indians, which had occupied the area during the Contact period (1500-1620), called the settlement Unquityquisset. In 1662, Unquityquisset was incorporated as the town of Milton. Though Milton was principally an agricultural community for over a century, industry was present in the town from the late 17" century onward, particularly on the Neponset River, the major source for local waterpower.
The town's industrial base expanded from powder and fulling mills in the late 17" century to the manufacture of gunpowder, paper, and chocolate, among other small-scale industries, by the third quarter of the 18"h century. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 2 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA In 1801, Josiah Bent (1771-1836), a Milton farmer, began manufacturing water crackers, the ship's biscuit commonly known as hard tack. Establishment of a number of bakeries in Milton early in the 19th 'century has been attributed partly to the extensive coastwise trade present at Milton Village on the Neponset River, then the center of the town's commercial activity.
Navigation on the Neponset reached its peak in 1833, when seventy-four vessels sailed up the river to unload cargo at Lower Mills landing. [MHC Reconnaissance Survey Report] The water cracker developed by Josiah Bent was a crisp dry biscuit made of clear spring water and fine-ground wheat flour, without salt or shortening. A number of clear water springs reportedly existed in the area of the factory in the early 19" century. Milton also had a gristmill, located on the Neponset Falls, which provided fine quality wheat flour. Though Bent did not invent the food known as crackers, he coined the popular term "cracker," a reference to the crackling sound his biscuits made as they cooled after removal from the oven.
Known for their durability, Bent's water crackers were sealed in wooden kegs and stored in a ship's hold, to be broken out, sometimes years later, and rendered edible after a soaking in water. According to the History of Milton, Bent was the first to manufacture water crackers in the nation. [Teele] Unlike other industries operating in Milton by the end of the Federal period (1775-1830), among them paper, saw, and cotton mills and the chocolate factory, a bakery did not need the waterpower afforded by a location on the Neponset River. Josiah Bent started his cracker manufacturing business in the kitchen of his home (demolished) on Highland Street, approximately two miles south of Milton Village. This site is located in the vicinity of the present 373 or 375 Highland Street, near the intersection of Randolph Avenue, about one-third of a mile south of the present G. H.
Bent Company building at 7 Pleasant Street. In the early history of the company, Josiah Bent's wife and children made crackers in small quantities, baking them in a Dutch oven built into one side of the kitchen fireplace. Bent traveled from town to town by horse, selling the crackers from saddlebags. He also sold the crackers to ship merchants in Boston, and reportedly supplied the U. S. Navy with crackers during the War of 1812. Demand for the crackers caused Josiah Bent to expand his business in 1827 into a two-story, wood-frame factory, which he had built to the north of his house. The factory had two Dutch ovens at the back of the building, which were built into a sandbank. The sand could retain the oven heat for weeks. A small room at the front of the factory served as a retail shop for the crackers.
The factory burned in 1909, and a multiple-unit residential building at 371 Highland Street (early 20* century, MHC #50) was built on the foundation. In 1826, Josiah Bent sold the business to Deacon Samuel Adams, the husband of his daughter, Mary Ann Bent. [MHC inventory form, 371 Highland Street] Following his retirement from the cracker business in 1830, Josiah Bent served one term as a representative in the state legislature. He died in 1836. [Dictionary of American Biography, vol. I] Samuel Adams carried on the Highland Street business under the name of Bent & Company until 1837. During that time, he worked in partnership with Samuel T. Bent, who may have been a son of Josiah Bent. From 1837 until his retirement in 1871, Adams was the sole proprietor of the factory. The Adamses resided in a Federal-period house at 307 Highland Street (ca.
1800, MHC #42), north of the factory and west of the later G. H. Bent Company Building on Pleasant Street. After installing a hand-turned cracker-cutting machine in the factory sometime between 1838 and 1840, Adams has able to expand the factory's product line. New products included two kinds of pilot bread (common or water pilot, and extra (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 3 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA pilot, a sponge cracker), two kinds of oyster crackers (water oyster and sponge oyster), soda crackers, milk biscuits, wine crackers, sugar crackers, lemon crackers, and both thick and thin graham crackers. [Allison, The N. B. C., p.
7] These products were baked in the same Dutch ovens in which the water crackers were baked. Bent water crackers were widely available during the 19 century. They were stocked at the fur trading post of Bent's Old Fort (1833-1834, now a National Historic Site), located on the Arkansas River near the town of La Junta in southeastern Colorado. Brothers Charles Bent and William Bent, distant cousins of the Bent family of Milton, established this trading post on the Santa Fe Trail in partnership with Ceran St. Vrain. All three men were natives of St. Louis, Missouri. Until 1849, the fort was the frontier trading hub of the American Southwest. A National Park Service brochure describes the trading post as the most important port of call and depot during the 1830s and 1840s between Independence, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Bent's water crackers also were supplied to the Union Army during the Civil War. Upon his retirement from the cracker business in 1871, Samuel Adams leased the company to Horatio Webster, Samuel T. Bent, John A. Shaw, William H. Balkam, and George A. Fletcher for a period of five years. The lease was renewed for another five years, but Adams died before the end of the second term. By his will, the business passed to George A. Fletcher, a nephew, and Granville Young. [Allison, The N. B. C., p. 8] Fletcher and Young sold the company and the real estate to the New York Biscuit Company. In 1898, the New York Biscuit company became one of several companies consolidated to form the National Biscuit Company. [Allison, The N. B. C., p.
8] The Highland Street factory burned down in 1909, at which point the National Biscuit Company opened a new plant on Eliot Street in Milton Village, on the Neponset River. There, the company employed one hundred workers to make the crackers by hand. When National Biscuit Companyphased outitsoperations at the Eliot Street factory in 1926, the G. H. Bent Company Factory, 7 Pleasant Street (MHC #26) was left as the sole successor in Milton to the cracker manufacturing business founded by Josiah Bent in 1801. The G. H. Bent Company has its roots in the late 19t century. In 1884, George H. Bent, a grandson of Josiah Bent, and his wife, Edna, purchased from Granville and Julia Young a parcel of land at the corner of Pleasant Street and Randolph Avenue. There, they built their house, now known as 672 Randolph Avenue (not inventoried). In 1891, they incorporated G. H.
Bent & Company, and the following year had the present factory building constructed immediately to the north of their house. Manufacture of the Bent water crackers has continued at the Pleasant Street factory for over a century, using the same recipe developed in 1801. Historically, Josiah Bent used brick Dutch ovens to bake his water crackers. Ninety years later, George Bent installed three large brick Dutch ovens in the Pleasant Street factory, built into the back (east) wall of the building. The ovens were heated internally with hot fires that were then removed; sandbanks around the ovens would retain the normal oven temperature for weeks. For baking, "flash heat" was created by igniting bundles of oak twigs directly in the ovens. These bundles, or fagots, were gathered by local boys, then stored in the shed at the rear of the factory.
The boys, who were paid ten cents per bundle, gathered the twigs from the wooded area behind the factory. The heat generated by the large ovens, in addition to the seasonal summer heat, caused the owners to close the factory each year from June 1 to October 1. The brick Dutch ovens are no longer used; the company now bakes in a gas-fired rotating oven installed in 1947. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 4 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA The process of manufacturing Bent's water crackers has changed little since the early 19t century. Most of the "moulding" (kneading) and cutting of dough, and the packing of the crackers, is still done by hand.
A hand-turned cracker cutting machine, similar to the one Samuel Adams installed in the late 1830s in Josiah Bent's Highland Street factory, is used at the G. H. Bent Company today. After removal of the crackers from the ovens, each cracker was wiped on a sheepskin before being packed [Allison, The N. B. C.], a method that is still employed at G. H. Bent Company today. Bent's water crackers were believed to have therapeutic properties, and were used to treat dyspepsia, or indigestion. They were good for a baby's teething, and were touted as an after-dinner incentive to assist digestion. An advertising slogan from about 1910 noted their suitability for individuals with weak stomachs. Bent water crackers were distributed widely and in the early 20# century could be found on major railways in the United States. Cruise ships also served Bent products.
Advertisements painted on the company's delivery trucks, as shown in a photograph of the factory dated 1924, indicate that Bent's also made baked beans and brown bread at that time. It was the cracker production, however, that brought the company its national reputation. From the 1920s through the 1940s, Bent water crackers could be found in hotels, stores, and restaurants. Brass stencil plates now decorate the retail store at the G. H. Bent factory; these plates were once used to stencil the names and destinations of shipping crates of water crackers. They included the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel, New York City; the Hotel Biltmore, New York City; the Hotel Commodore, New York City; Chesapeake Steamship Company, Baltimore; the Great Northern Railway Company, Seattle; S. S. Pierce Company, Boston; R. H.
Macy & Company, New York City; the May Department Stores Company, Los Angeles; Keebler-Weyl Baking Company, Philadelphia; and Sunshine Biscuits Inc., St. Louis. George H. Bent was actively involved in the ownership and operation of his cracker factory for roughly twenty years. By 1914, C. A. Griggs, a close associate of Bent, had taken over as the owner and manager of the business. [Bent, History of the Bent Water Cracker] Griggs had been associated with the company since the early 1890s. There was another transition in the company's ownership by the early 1920s, at which point the business was known as G. H. Bent Company. A1921 Notice of Sale for the building, which is framed and displayed in the retail shop, notes that Percy L. Draper was then president of the corporation, and John C. Gerald was treasurer. Gerald remained involved in the business until the 1940s. Arthur S. Pierotti (b.
1890) purchased the G. H. Bent Company in 1944. Pierotti, a native of Everett, owned a bottling operation in Natick before acquiring the cracker factory in Milton. He commuted to Milton from his residence in Wellesley. [Interview with James Pierotti] In 1947, Pierotti installed the factory's rotating ovens. Under his direction, the Bent factory became associated with cookie production in the mid-1940s. The same year the rotating ovens were installed, Pierotti had the 1921 brick oven addition on the south side of the building gutted of bricks and converted to use as a cookie storage room. G. H. Bent Company was a vendor to the United States armed forces during and after World War II. During the war, the U. S. Army purchased water crackers (hardtack) for their troop ships. The Milton factory was known locally as "The Cracker Factory" until the mid-1940s, when the U. S.
Navy entered into a contract with the company for cookie shipments. Consequently, cookie production overtook cracker production at the factory. Local residents of more recent (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 5 OMB No. 1024-0018 G.H.Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA generations refer to the factory as "The Broken Cookie Factory," a reference to the cookie pieces available for sale in Milton after the perfect cookies were shipped to the Navy. In the late 1960s, the company added common crackers to its product line. Often confused with the water cracker, the common cracker is richer, slightly sweeter, and more crumbly than water crackers, with dough that contains yeast, shortening, and sugar.
This dough yields common crackers (shaped in medium-sized rounds), pilot crackers (shaped in large perforated oblongs), and oyster crackers. [Fitzgerald, "The uncommon cracker story"] Arthur S. Pierotti served as president of the company until 1984. The company remains in the Pierotti family today, under the direction of Gene Pierotti and James Pierotti, son and grandson, respectively, of Arthur S. Pierotti. G. H. Bent Company distributes its water crackers through dealerships in the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. The company also produces an extensive line of cookies, date and nut breads, raisin and soda breads, and other products. In the cracker line, G. H. Bent Company currently produces water, common, and pilot crackers. The factory turns out about 18,000 crackers and 4,800 cookies a day.
[Wisnia, "Milk and crackers"] The ground-floor retail shop, re-opened in 1995, sells homestyle cookies and breads along with cakes and brownies. The shop also has coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads, and delicatessen provisions for sale. Crackers are still sold in the shop, though broken crackers or cookies are not an integral part of the business. In keeping with its association for supplying hardtack to troops during the Civil War, today the G. H. Bent Company is a cracker purveyor to several Civil War re-enactments throughout the southern United States. The G. H. Bent Company is one of the longest continuously operated businesses in the town of Milton. Another is the Thatcher Farm Dairy, which has been run by the Manning family since 1891.
[Wisnia] Archaeological Significance Since patterns of prehistoric occupation in Milton are poorly understood, any surviving sites could be significant. Prehistoric sites in this area can contribute information towards a better understanding of the settlement and subsistence relationships between sites located on major riverine drainages like the Neponset River, major ponds such as Ponkapoag Pond and interior upland tributary streams in these areas, including the nominated locale. Prehistoric sites in this area can also help better understand the local role and significance of regionally important sites including the Massachusetts Hornfels Braintree Slate Quarry located near the district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The location of this site in the general area (within one mile) of the nominated property also indicated the potential for studies relating to Native American lithic technologies, including quarrying activities, and possibly exchange. Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to provide detailed information relating to the town's 19" century industrial development that was characterized largely by granite quarrying until the late 19t* century when a more diversified industrial base developed. Filled granite quarries on the nominated property may contain information relating to the types of mining technologies in use at the quarries, the transport of granite from the quarries and the conditions of workers at the quarries.
Detailed analysis of the fills from quarries may also contribute information (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-8) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8/9 Page 6/1 OMB No. 1024-0018 G.H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA relating to the social, cultural and economic composition of the town since the area was used as a landfill prior to construction of the factory. Occupational related features, especially trash areas may also be present on the property containing evidence of production activities at the Bent Factory. This information might include bakery equipment, packaging and evidence from worker's activities. (end) 9. Major Bibliographical References Allison, Werner S. "When crackers are made by hand - and have been for one hundred and sixteen years.
The story of a unique institution." The National Biscuit Company Magazine. (New York, New York) July 1917. Bent, George H. "History of the Bent Water Cracker 1801-1914. Manufactured by G. H. Bent Company, Milton, Mass." Information sheet distributed with crackers, 1914. Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Colorado. Brochure published by National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior. 1984. Fitzgerald, Vicki. "The uncommon cracker story." The (Quincy) Patriot Ledger. June 4, 1997, Food section, p. 19ff. Johnson, Allen, ed. Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. I (entry for Josiah Bent). NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964. Loughran, William J. "Yes, Virginia, there's still a common cracker." Yankee Magazine, January 1971. MHC Inventory Forms: G. H. Bent Company, 7 Pleasant Street (MHC #26); Samuel Adams House, 307 Highland Street (MHC #42); and 371 Highland Street (MHC #50).
Prepared by William J. Loughran, Milton Historical Commission, 1978. MHC Reconnaissance Survey Report for Milton. May 1981. Teele. History of Milton. 1887. Wisnia, Saul. "Milk and crackers and history. Family operators of a venerable dairy and a bakery keep tradition alive." Boston Sunday Globe. February 11, 1996, South Weekly section, p.1. Interviews with Gene Pierotti, President, and James Pierotti, Director of Operations, G. H. Bent Company, July 23, 1999. (end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 10 Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA 10. Geographical Data Verbal Boundary Description The boundary of the nominated property is shown on the accompanying detail of the Town of Milton assessors' map.
The boundary encompassesthe factory lot (9,340 square feet) plus the adjacent right-of-way (9,100 square feet). Currently the right-of-way is used as a driveway for the factory. The right-of-way also provides access to a land-locked, wooded parcel southeast of the factory building, also owned by the G. H. Bent Company. This wooded parcel is not included in the nominated property. Boundary Justification The boundary encompasses the area most closely associated with the daily operations and management of the G. H. Bent Company factory. (end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number photos Page 1 OMB No. 1024-0018 G. H. Bent Company Factory Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA Photographs 1. View of main building from Randolph Avenue, camera facing E. November 1997 (James E.
Pierotti photo) 2. Bent factory, June 1893, facing NE (photographer unknown) 3. Bent factory, August 15, 1924, facing NE (photographer unknown) 4. Bent factory and transport, August 15, 1924, facing E (photographer unknown) 5. North elevation, July 1999, facing SE (Broomer photo) 6. Rear elevation with storage shed, July 1999, facing W (Broomer photo) 7. Original Dutch oven, no longer used, July 1999, facing W (Broomer photo) (end) HIO N G.H. BeNT company RIGHT 33.o PLEASANT 3 STREET 23%0 RANDOLPH 0 GG4 WA 38° 25 6722 20.85 G.M.
BeNT company cò 20 22,976 146.92 33.50 5,948 150.87 4678 39.98 :d 30.31 5,757 -45 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME : Bent, G.H., Company Factory MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Norfolk DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 1/11/00 2/09/00 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 1/24/00 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 2/25/00 REFERENCE NUMBER: 00000075 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N OTHER: N PDIL: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N LACCEPT _RETURN ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: REJECT 2/10/00 DATE N N N RECOM. /CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N G.H.MANUTACTUREN BENT CO.
Of Cold Water Crackers Since 1801 G.H. BeNT Company 7 Pleasant street MiHON James F. Pierotti Novembor 1997 miltor lofy87 Left center view of Building From Randolph Avenue 6X73 G.H. Bent Company 7 Pleasant Street Milton photographer unknown Juae 1893 PRESTIGE 101 N -050-050 010 010 20F 7 40103 Hadvd 20100I00- 00 83 095 H3dVd 201001CN3 4344a HadVd 201031003 H3dVd a0103Ien} 83dVd GHVA 83dVd 20103IC Hadvd 20103IC0 HadVd 201031003 DUTER OVEN BANEO SEANS ANS SROWN SAEAG &R BENT S8 IELTON NS G.H. BeNt Company 7 Pleasant street milton photographer an krown 15,1924.
30F7 20700I00] H3dVd OICnA HEdVd 201001003 H3dVd 20103Ic0 H3dVd 20100I0 H3dV 20103 Hadvd Hadvd 2I0 210 20 H3dVd 20100Ic05 PRESTIGE -050-040 000 101 N 00 81 010 ° 101 20 BAEAG GH BeNT Company 7 PlaSaNT stree Milton photographer unknoww 15,1924 PRESTIGE -050-020 40F7 201 101 N 010-010 00 33 0 093 H3dVd 40100IC03 Hadva 2070318 HadVa 101031 Irnd H3dVa 201001C03 HadVd XOT H3dVa 20103IP03 8adVa 20100Ic03 HadVd 20T00I0N- HadVd 20100IC3 G.H.Beut company Facton 7 Pleasaut Street Witton, MA Photo: July 1999 Ck.K.Broomer) Neg: G.H.
Beut Company North (side) elecation S0F7 PAPER SSIONAL PAPEL PROFESSIONAL PAPER - PAPIER PAPEL 6.H.Beut Companyfactoy 7 Pleasaut Street Photo: July1999 (K.K.Brooner) Neg: GHBeut compauy East (rear) elevation w/attached stovage shed 60f7 SSIONAL PAPEL Kodak PAP PROFESSIONA - PAPIER PAPEL PAPE SSIONAL PAPEL Kodak ESSTO PAP ESSIONAL PAPEL Ett Beut company Factory 7Puasaut Street MA Ploto: July 1999 (KK Broomer) Neg: GH Beut Company Oueotoriginal butch ovens (ho lower wsed) ast wall of ist (upperlevel) floor 70F1 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission January 6, 2000 Ms. Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service Mail Stop 2280, Suite 400 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20240 Dear Ms.
Shull: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: G.H. Bent Cookie Company, 7 Pleasant St., Milton (Norfolk Co.), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30 to 45 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Betay truedlers Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure CC: James F. Pierotti, G.H. Bent Company Frances Westerbeke, Chair, Milton Historical Commission Richard Neely, Milton Board of Selectmen Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Preservation Consultant Bernard Lynch, Planning Board 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 - (617) 727-8470 Fax: (617) 727-5128 - TDD: 1-800-392-6090 www.state.ma.us/sec/mbc
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