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Pultz & Walkley Company
U.S. Historic district
Contributing property
SouthingtonCT PultzAndWalkleyCompany.jpg
Pultz & Walkley Company is located in Connecticut
Pultz & Walkley Company
Location in Connecticut
Pultz & Walkley Company is located in the United States
Pultz & Walkley Company
Location in the United States
Location 120 W. Main St., Southington, Connecticut
Area 1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built 1880 (1880)
Architectural style Industrial vernacular
Part of Plantsville Historic District (ID88002673)
MPS Historic Industrial Complexes of Southington TR
NRHP reference No. 88002677
Significant dates
Added to NRHP December 8, 1988
Designated CP December 1, 1988

The Pultz & Walkley Company, also known more recently as The Five Star Company, is a historic industrial complex at 120 West Main Street in the Plantsville village of Southington, Connecticut. Founded in the 1870s, Pultz & Walkley was a major producer of paper bags. The multi-building complex is one of the town's better-preserved industrial properties, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Description and history

The Pultz & Walkley complex is located on the south side of the central village of Plantsville. It is set well back from the street, behind a municipal parking lot and in front of the former Blakeslee Forging Company industrial complex. Its main buildings are tall 3-1/2 and 2-1/2 story brick buildings, oriented in a T shape with the leg of the T facing north toward West Main Street. These buildings are in typical late 19th-century commercial Italianate style, with windows set in segmented-arch openings, and with corbelled brickwork cornices. Smaller buildings have been attached to the southern side of the larger structure.

Pultz & Walkley was established in 1870 by L.V. Walkley and J.P. Pultz, who had invented machinery for manufacturing paper bags. The surviving main building of the complex is estimated to date to 1875, and was enlarged in 1898. The plant turned out 3 million bags in 1899. The well-preserved street-facing northern facade is a prominent reminder of Southington's industrial heritage.