The factory on Wilbraham Road in Springfield, which would later house the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company. Seen here around 1892 and published in Picturesque Hampden (1892).
The building in 2015:
This building is best known as having been part of the Indian Motocycle Company factory, but it has had a variety of uses over the years. The original section of the building, as seen in the 1892 photo, was built in 1883 for the Bullard Repeating Arms Company, a rifle company that was not as successful as another firearms company founded in Springfield during the 19th century. Bullard didn’t last too long, and the building was then used by the Springfield Industrial Institute, a private trade school. In 1895, the school moved to the building across the courtyard, and the Elektron Company occupied this building. It was at this point that the wing was built to the east, beyond the tower.
Early in the 20th century, George Hendee moved his motorcycle company to this site, which was originally named Hendee Manufacturing Company, but was later renamed Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company (the “r” was intentionally omitted from “motorcycle” for trademark purposes). The two story addition was put on the building in 1911, which by then had nearly quadrupled in size from the 1892 photo. This triangle between State Street and Wilbraham Road was the home of the company until they closed in 1953, at which point the buildings were used for various other businesses. Since then, several of the buildings have been demolished, although the original 1883 Bullard building survives, and it has been renovated and turned into apartments.
My Grandfather, a Swedish immigrant, lived at 115 Wilbraham Road and worked for Indian Motocycles. I am not sure of the timeline though.
George Mallory Hendee was not from Boston. He was born in Watertown, CT, in 1866 and moved to Springfield, MA, with his parents in 1978. Easy to find that history online.
Thank you for the correction – I had read somewhere that he was born in Watertown MA, which is just outside of Boston.
Laura – He moved when he was 112 years old? Yikes!
How old were his parents by that time I wonder?
*moved to Springfield in 1878
My name is Jim Hill I spent many hrs shopping at the old Indian Motorcycle at Kings dept store and a furniture that was also in that building good memories.
James, Thanks for mentioning Kings Dept. Store for I use to sweep the floors for a summer job while going to Eastern Avenue Jr.High School and Monson Academy for high school. My sister went to Buckingham them Tech high. Before WWII my uncle worked for Indian Motorcycle. Yes, good memories.
As a small child my family lived in Sixteen Acres. To go downtown we had to drive past the old Indian factory. They had gone out of business by then so the buildings were always dark and scary looking. My Dad warned me to, “stay away from that place boy, there’s Indians in there!” He didn’t have to tell me twice!
I am researching the building itself and am interested in learning about the architect or builder. My grandfather was a partner of Napoleon Russell, who was involvied in the construction of Hilltop Farm, Mr. Hendee’s estate in Suffeld, Ct.
Jeff, I am interested too. My husband just came into possession of one of the windows from the factory that was removed when the building was convertec to apartments. I’d like to know more about that as well.
Becky,
I researched further and found that my grandfather, Fred M. Knowlton, designed a 5 story addition to the Hendee Building. Ironically, he died in a motorcycle crash in 1921.
My moms uncle worked for Indian and she said she always remembered the day her uncle bought a brand new chief from Indian and she lived very close to the factory and he drove it over and gave her a ride on it the same day he bought it
Does anyone know if the buildings equipment was auctioned off in 1953 or sold in bulk to someone?
I was told that my grandfather was sent from Newark new Jersey with 4 other men and a truck to clean out the building, they couldn’t find anyone to take the stuff , so they brought truckloads to the landfill. He worked for Teledyne Corp. Could this be true? He died before I was born. So it’s second hand to me.
I went to Western New England College in the 70’s. I also lived downtown and would drive by the building all the time. I remember there was a fire house on the western end of the building. I always wanted to go in there seeking a old Indian bike to take home to NJ!
Actually..the 1st Indian prototype was made in Middletown CT. on Hamlin street. Only a block from where I live and have my business. A customer came into the shop a few years ago and told me that. I just googled it and yup..its true. Just thought I would throw that out so its not forgotten. I was surprised when he told me that.
Cheers,
EDL
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen,
In response to your queries regarding the architect that designed the original Bullard building; it was either Charles Sidney [Springfield Daily Republican May 31st, 1883, page 6] or Levi Moody [Springfield Daily Republican, July 5th, 1883 page 6] depending upon which newspaper story one cares to believe. Moody may be correct for originally the building was to be 5 stories high and longer than that actually built. Moody was doing a flat roof on his design too.
A great deal of information about this building is included in my two books BULLARD ARMS 1988 and BULLARD FIREARMS 2002.
Best regards,
G. Scott Jamieson
THATS when the LIGHTS WENT OUT INN MASSACHUSETTS,
ON THE AERO SAY WHAT!!!!
WE OBJECT NOTHING.
As an avid Indian rider and enthusiast this article has been very helpful. Planning a motocycle trip to the area, and this is now on the list of stops. We’ll be on some of the newer Indian Motorcycles now being produced under label from Polaris. They are being built in Spirit Lake Iowa hand assembled still. They are once again producing some impressively well engineered machines. Nothing beats the legacy and history of America’s first motorcycle company.
Be sure to check out the Springfield Museums. They have a large collection of vintage Indians on display in the history museum.
If you or anybody else does swing by and take a look make sure you do it during the day Springfield is not exactly the safest spot at night
Beautiful history & stigma of yesteryear. I went to AIC college & neighbor to the old building in mid-late 90’s. Almost everyone in my dorm was robbed or assaulted during semester-tough area. I hear crime may be worse now. There is still a lot of incredibly hard working people & history!
Can anyone tell me the purpose of Hendee Street off Page? Was this part of the manufacturing process for the Indian Motocycle? Any history for that area would be appreciated. Thanks, Fred
I don’t know if any Indian manufacturing was ever done out there, but the 1920 city atlas shows that much of that land on present-day Hendee Street was the factory of the Harley Company. This was a brass company, apparently unrelated to Harley-Davidson, but it seems to have been affiliated in some way with Indian Motocycle, so it’s possible that there was a connection with Hendee, hence the name of the street.
At the height of Indian’s production in 1913, Hendee bought 10 acres of land and built a forging plant off of Page Boulevard at at 603 Hendee St. in East Springfield. Called Hendeeville, it closed in late 1916 when the company’s Board of Directors voted to sell it. Rolls-Royce owned it from 1921-1934. During WWII, the US War Assets Dept. occupied the space. In 1945, the new president of Indian bought the property, dismantled and sold the outdated Wigwam, and moved production to East Springfield. Titeflex, which eventually became owned by the owners of Indian Motorcycle, moved to Springfield in 1956, taking over the former Indian plant. It razed the factory between 2010 and 2011. The privately-owned Indian Motocycle Museum was located at 33 Hendee Street, 1974-2006. The entire collection was donated to the Springfield Museums in 2007.
The Hendee st plant is described in Sucher’s ‘The Iron Redskin’, p46 for a picture. It was called ‘Hendeeville’ and established in 1911-13.
The factory survived until recent times ?2015 and you can see it on Google Earth historical views. I had the good fortune to visit both sites, and the 4 wonderful Springfield museums, but couldn’t locate Franklin’s grave in Oak Grove cemetery. Next time lucky perhaps.
Hi James,
My name is Henry. Can you tell a little bit more about the department store and furniture store that operated inside the Motorcycle building on State St., Springfield, Ma.
I am researching this building for a class project. I greatly appreciate your assistance!
Thanks
Henry