Luminous Collinsville – J. G. Coleman Photography

Luminous Collinsville (Dams beside the old Collins Ax Factory, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut) — “Luminous Collinsville”
Dams at the old Collins Axe Factory, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

In “Luminous Collinsville” (photo at top), just one the pieces I recently released featuring the historic Collins Ax Factory, mist rises from the Farmington River as it courses through old mill dams in the post-industrial factory town of Collinsville, Connecticut. Stricken by days of brutally cold winter weather, waters behind the spillway are glazed over with ice and snow-capped bedrock punctuates the river below.

Factory Town, Autumn Hush (Old Collins Axe Factory on the Farmington River, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut) — “Factory Town, Autumn Hush”
Old Collins Axe Factory on the Farmington River, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

When the Collins Ax Factory opened as a modest mill on the banks of the Farmington River in the 1820s, nobody could’ve predicted the remarkable success that lay ahead. Over the next century, as its fame grew and business soared, the company expanded its facilities at the site, brought in rail lines, built bridges over the river, constructed extensive dams for waterwheels and hydroelectric plants and served as the hub for a community that is still called “Collinsville” to this day. My piece, “Factory Town, Autumn Hush” (above), portrays the main factory building beside a large mill pond.

Gates of Collinsville (Dam regulators at the old Collins Axe Factory on the Farmington River, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut) — “Gates of Collinsville”
Dam gate hoists at the old Collins Axe Factory on the Farmington River, Collinsville, Canton, Connecticut
© 2016 J. G. Coleman

But even this industrial giant wasn’t immune to changing times. First came the advent of the chainsaw, which diminished the demand for axes. Market competition steadily increased right up until 1955 when a massive flood made matters worse by destroying the rail lines that serviced the sprawling complex. By the 1960s the factory was shuttered, ending a 140-year legacy of continuous operation that turned out millions of the finest axes and machetes that money could buy.