Sargent and Company

In 1810, the Sargent family entered the hardware business, beginning the trail that eventually led to the present SARGENT Manufacturing Company.

Joseph Bradford Sargent and his two brothers operated a wholesale hardware business in New York City, and subsequently obtained an interest in one of their suppliers, the Peck and Walter Manufacturing Company of New Britain, CT. This company was the predecessor to the present SARGENT Manufacturing Company. The Sargent brothers bought full ownership of the New Britain firm in 1857.

Seven years later, in 1864, they moved the factory to New Haven to be closer to the sea for shipping purposes and the delivery of raw materials, and incorporated under the laws of Connecticut as SARGENT & Co.

SARGENT’s original New Haven location was along Water Street (on land now occupied by the Teletrack Theatre and The Maritime Building(s) with a portion of the plant bordering Wallace and Hamilton Street. Prior to the Sargent brothers acquiring this property, it was owned by such historical names as colonial patriot Jesse Leavenworth (1760), Benedict Arnold (1778), Eli Whitney (1807), and the Fulton Steamboat Company (1817). The original plant started out with a series of five-story brick buildings, storage sheds, and, as the business grew, other buildings were added. Connecting these various structures were “catwalks” or bridges, often spanning busy city streets. By 1914, the SARGENT product catalog listed some 60,000 different items, making it one of the largest hardware manufacturing plants in the United States

During World Ward I and II, much of the plant's production capacity was converted from hardware manufacturing to the production of items needed for the war effort. As men went off to fight the wars in Europe and the Pacific, women began staffing factories like Sargent in greater numbers as a means of helping with the war effort and to help support their families. By the time WWII ended, nearly 40% of Sargent's jobs were held by women, compared with just 10% at the outset of the ward.

The post-war era for Sargent was marked by an effort to narrow the company's product offerings. Always known as a high quality manufacturer of locks and door-related mechanisms, the decision was reached by the Sargent family to concentrate more on that niche. This focus gave rise to the development of many lock-related engineering firsts...

Manufacturing in an old multi-story facility became more and more inefficient, so, in the company's 101st year of operation in New Haven, Sargent & co moved to the space now currently occupied on Sargent drive [2022]. This was referred to as 'Operation Stone's Throw', because of the short distance (1/4 mile) the company was moving...The 'new' plant occupies a one-story structure adjacent to Interstate Highway I-95 overlooking New Haven harbor. It rests on a 30-acre site and is built of steel and curtain wall construction. Overall, the building provides over 300,000 square feet of available floor area.

In 1967, the Sargent family and company stockholders accepted an offer for the company from the Walter Kidde Company, beginning a period of ownership by various financial groups, lasting until January of 1996 when Assa Abloy, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is the world's leading lock group. Since coming under the Assa Abloy umbrella, Sargent has focused on refining their manufacturing processes, along with the development of new and innovative products....

Sargent Manufacturing Company is a leading manufacturer of architectural hardware and locking products for new and retrofit applications. Sargent provides opening solutions for a variety of various vertical markets including education and healthcare, and continues to lead our industry in new product introductions and innovations to existing product.

from the website sargentlock.com/en/menu/about-us/

The company continues to be known as Sargent Manufacturing Company