{"nrhp_refnum":"08001176","name":"Sanford Whip Factory","other_names":["Advance Whip and Novelty Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"330 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.13340374100005,"lon":-72.74687881699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-12-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 3½-story brick Italianate industrial building at 330 Elm Street, Westfield, Massachusetts, erected in 1883 by the Sanford Whip Company as a whip factory.","why_significant":"It is a surviving example of Westfield's whip-manufacturing industry, which drove the city's 19th-century growth and earned it the name \"The Whip City.\" It is also a representative example of the functional brick mill buildings common in manufacturing communities. Four whip companies used it, and it later made novelties and party favors for nearly seventy years.","narrative":"Built in 1883 by the Sanford Whip Company, this 3½-story factory at 330 Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts, housed one of the whip-making operations that gave the city its nickname, \"The Whip City.\" It is built of dark red brick with a front-gabled slate roof, segmentally arched Italianate window caps, sandstone sills and a denticulated cornice. Inside, exposed brick walls, heavy wooden structural members and worn wooden floors survive. Four whip firms used the building over time, and it became part of the United States Whip Company when more than a dozen local firms consolidated in 1892. As the automobile ended demand for whips, a later owner switched to novelties and party favors, which it made for nearly seventy years as the Advance Whip and Novelty Company. The building was listed for its link to Westfield's whip industry and as a representative brick mill building. It has been vacant for about six years and shows neglect, though it retains most of its original appearance.","period_of_significance":"1883-1958","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant for about six years; brickwork needs repointing and many windows are missing, but the openings have been secured with plywood, brick or concrete block, preventing more severe damage.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.970417-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/7953/63795349/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/08001176.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08001176/42e5e7e9f5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08001176/42e5e7e9f5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sanford_Whip_Factory,_Westfield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sanford_Whip_Factory,_Westfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795349","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford_Whip_Factory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16899773"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/sanford-whip-factory-08001176/"}