Timexpo Museum
Encyclopedia
The Timexpo Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut
is dedicated to the history of Timex Group and its predecessors, featuring exhibits going back to the founding of Waterbury Clock Company in 1854. The museum
is located in the Brass Mill Commons
shopping center and its location is marked by a 40 feet (12.2 m) high replica of an Easter Island
Moai statue
which connects with the museum's archaeology
exhibit. The museum is 14000 square feet (1,300.6 m²) with approximately 8,000 dedicated to the two main exhibits: the company's history of timepieces and archaeology.
For decades, Waterbury has been known as the Brass Capital, despite a decrease in its manufacturing history over many years. The building that houses the museum is the former executive office of the Scovill Manufacturing Company and Century Brass Company, and is the only remaining building of the 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) brass mill complex. Timex Group owes its origins to the Waterbury brass industry as the original clockmaking company was founded as a department of brass manufacturer Benedict & Burnham – a local competitor to Scovill – in 1854. Waterbury Clock quickly spun off as a legally incorporated business on March 27, 1857 due to its early success.
The museum focuses on important moments of Timex Group's history, including an exhibit on the U.S. Army commissioning Waterbury Clock Company in 1917 to provide wristwatch versions of the Ingersoll
Ladies Midget pocketwatch for soldiers heading overseas, but the museum is not limited in scope. It includes aspects of local history, including letters from Mark Twain
, who lived
for a time in nearby Hartford, as well as exhibits concerning the travels of settlers across the Atlantic
and Pacific
Oceans based on the explorations of Thor Heyerdahl
.
The museum was approved to go forward in 1999 and finally opened in May 2001.
Museum costs were estimated at $4.8 million, with the Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation providing approximately $500,000 and Timex funding the rest.
The final cost was $5.45 million, including $2 million from the Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation and the Connecticut Department of Economic Development and Community Development.
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
is dedicated to the history of Timex Group and its predecessors, featuring exhibits going back to the founding of Waterbury Clock Company in 1854. The museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
is located in the Brass Mill Commons
Brass Mill Center
The Brass Mill Center is a shopping mall located in Waterbury, Connecticut. The mall and its accompanying complex, the Brass Mill Commons, cost $160 million to build. At , it is Connecticut's fifth largest mall, containing over 130 shops...
shopping center and its location is marked by a 40 feet (12.2 m) high replica of an Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
Moai statue
Moai
Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...
which connects with the museum's archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
exhibit. The museum is 14000 square feet (1,300.6 m²) with approximately 8,000 dedicated to the two main exhibits: the company's history of timepieces and archaeology.
For decades, Waterbury has been known as the Brass Capital, despite a decrease in its manufacturing history over many years. The building that houses the museum is the former executive office of the Scovill Manufacturing Company and Century Brass Company, and is the only remaining building of the 44 acres (178,061.8 m²) brass mill complex. Timex Group owes its origins to the Waterbury brass industry as the original clockmaking company was founded as a department of brass manufacturer Benedict & Burnham – a local competitor to Scovill – in 1854. Waterbury Clock quickly spun off as a legally incorporated business on March 27, 1857 due to its early success.
The museum focuses on important moments of Timex Group's history, including an exhibit on the U.S. Army commissioning Waterbury Clock Company in 1917 to provide wristwatch versions of the Ingersoll
Ingersoll Watch Company
The Ingersoll Watch Company grew out of a mail order business started in New York City in 1882 by 21-year-old Robert Hawley Ingersoll and his brother Charles Henry. The company initially sold low-cost items such as rubber stamps...
Ladies Midget pocketwatch for soldiers heading overseas, but the museum is not limited in scope. It includes aspects of local history, including letters from Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, who lived
Mark Twain House
The Mark Twain House and Museum was the home of Mark Twain from 1874 to 1891 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Before 1874, Twain had lived in Hannibal, Missouri. The architectural style of the 19-room house is Victorian Gothic...
for a time in nearby Hartford, as well as exhibits concerning the travels of settlers across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
Oceans based on the explorations of Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a background in zoology and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands...
.
The museum was approved to go forward in 1999 and finally opened in May 2001.
Museum costs were estimated at $4.8 million, with the Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation providing approximately $500,000 and Timex funding the rest.
The final cost was $5.45 million, including $2 million from the Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation and the Connecticut Department of Economic Development and Community Development.
See also
- American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, ConnecticutBristol, ConnecticutBristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 61,353. Bristol is primarily known as the home of ESPN, whose central studios are in the city. Bristol is also home to...
- Timex Group USA
- American clockAmerican clockThe term American clock was used in the Victorian era and afterward to refer to a particular style of clock design followed by the American clockmakers of the day...
- Chauncey JeromeChauncey JeromeChauncey Jerome was a Clockmaker in the early 19th century. He made a fortune selling his clocks, and his business became enormous. He was born in Canaan in 1793; Chauncey Jerome was the son of a blacksmith and nail-maker....