B.B. Noyes Company Greenfield MA

Baxter Bardwell Noyes ran a general purpose foundry located on Hope Street in Greenfield. They were know for making carriage parts, but also operated as a "job shop" for other local manufacturers.

The B. B. Noyes Foundry located was built in 1883 by B.B. Noyes as an addition to an existing "Steam Mill or Planing Mill" on Hope Street to house his growing foundry business supplying hardware and parts for expanding carriage and tap & die firms. Noyes also rented space to up and coming businesses of former Wiley & Russell Company workers. One of those was John J. Grant who patented the "Lighting" threading die, the breakthrough that ultimately led to GTD Greenfield as the world's leader. The inventive Wells Brothers devised the improved "Little Grant" die in Noyes' basement and eventually expanded their tool-making activity to fill 9,000 square feet there. After the 1912 merger, F. O. Wells became the first president of Greenfield Tap & Die. Since the 1940s the complex has carried the Wells Brothers Tool Co. name. In the 1870s the presumed older frame section was a sash & blind shop and, in the 1850s a steam and planing mill. The original BB Noyes building is still standing and being used for manufacturing taps by the Wells Tool Corporation.

By 1900, Greenfield Massachusetts was well known for it’s many manufacturers of metal tools and products. The tool makers Wiley & Russell Mfg. and Wells Bros. & Co. were famous as leaders in machine thread cutting tools (taps and dies). Twenty years earlier, these two company’s stock and trade were in making a variety of tools for the professional metal workers of the time, the blacksmith. This was a product line of specialized tools, that included drill presses, foot operated vises, mandrels and even more exotic tools, such as the Samson Tire Upsetter.

As the country entered the 20th century, the Wells Bros. & Co. and Wiley & Russell were concentrating on becoming world leaders in screw thread cutting technology. Their efforts would become more and more focused on this goal and would eventually be combined in 1912 as the newly formed Greenfield Tap & Die Corp. (GTD) Gradually, the other tool lines were discontinued or licensed out to other companies.

The catalog below is the remaining black-smithing tool line previously manufactured by the Wells Brothers. The licensee is B.B. Noyes & Co., who also was a prominent Greenfield metal product maker of the 1870s. Their product line was a great variety of materials, from “man-hole” cover plates to baby carriage metal accessories.

Here is their catalog of the remaining Wells Brother’s black-smithing tool line:

BB Noyes 1904 Catalog

(Sources: Greenfield Guide to Historic Places - Hope street)