History and Future

In 1886 Mr. Henry L. Wade organized the Mattatuck Manufacturing Company on the corner of Southmayd Road & East Main Street in Waterbury. For nearly 100 years they were a leader in producing brass & wire goods such as upholstery nails, spring bed fabrics, wire forms and screw machine products. They had several patents for handcuff and leg iron restraints which were widely used by police and law enforcement agencies through out the world and were often utilized by the great illusionist Harry Houdini in his handcuff, escape acts. During World War II they switch from manufacturing upholstery nails to cartridge clips for the commonly used Springfield rifle producing as many as 3 million clips a week and employed over 500 employees.

Similar to much of the manufacturing industry in the Brass City due to rising manufacturing costs and foreign competition the factory ceased its operations and closed in the late 80’s. The building stood empty and abandoned for many years before being demolished by implosion in 2002 and was deemed a Brownfield due to the contaminants that were released into the soil during its production days. The once historic East End landmark became a vacant unusable eye sore until recently.

It has been a long time vision of the Casey family to expand it’s roots to a larger more modern facility while maintaining it’s loyalty to the East End of Waterbury. After several years of legal battles with the former property owner the Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Waterbury we are pleased and excited to announce that the property has been fully remediated and cleared of any contaminates by the DEP and that we are currently in the planning and construction phase of a brand new state of the art memorial and tribute center.

Working with the City of Waterbury and a local developer the sight will be revitalized into a thriving new East End icon, featuring our 16,000 square foot facility as well as a community center and medical facility. In addition to the three facilities, plans also include an outdoor courtyard and memorial-walking trails, which will run along the Mad River from East Main Street north to the connecting property of Mill Plain Union Church along Circular avenue.

Please continue to follow the progress and construction of Eastside Memorial by coming back and visiting our website. We will continue to update this page with images and details of our progress.