4 Rockwell Ave

In 1910 Naugatuck’s citizens were dependent on the rubber industry for the prosperity of the town. Seasonal layoffs in the rubber industry proved a hardship for citizens, as well as, the town’s economy. A decision was made at a January 1910 Town Meeting “to endeavor to bring new industry to town”. By the end of the meeting, $25,000 was pledged by one hundred and fourteen citizens to form a manufacturing company. They ultimately decided to purchase a faltering tool works in Waterbury known as The Risdon Tool and Machine Company.

In August of 1913 Risdon’s Directors made a decision that would ensure the company’s success, they hired twenty-eight-year-old Lewis Dibble to be their General Manager. Dibble was a graduate of Yale’s Sheffield Scientific School. Under Dibble’s supervision the company paid the first dividend of its common stock. Risdon would go on to become the premier manufacturer of cosmetic cases in the United States.

Mr. Dibble and his family later moved, a few blocks away, to Beacher Street. Here, he would have a dollhouse built for his daughter that was an exact miniature of his new house. The dollhouse was donated to the Naugatuck Historical Society and is still in our collection.

A later resident of the house was Anne Bristol Brodie, granddaughter of Franklin Bristol who founded Waterbury’s Bristol Company. Her parents’ home is at 485 Hillside Avenue, very near the Dibble Mansion.