{"nrhp_refnum":"85003233","name":"Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"360 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.128179346000024,"lon":-72.74682206799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 3 1/2-story red brick whip factory at 360 Elm Street in Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, built about 1887-1892 by the A. G. Barnes Whip Company, with two small rear additions from about 1894-1905.","why_significant":"The factory is tied to the whip industry that made up some 80 percent of Westfield's economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is an intact example of typical late 19th century industrial construction. It also keeps its original whip-making machinery, much of it still working, and is the last operating whip manufactory in the city.","narrative":"Whip making has gone on in this red brick factory on Elm Street in Westfield since the late 1880s. The building has a 3 1/2-story main block with segmental-arched windows, limestone sills and corbelled brick cornices, plus two single-story rear additions from about 1894-1905. It was built by the A. G. Barnes Whip Company and later passed to the U.S. Whip Company, the Rogers Silver Company and several smaller firms. Westfield called itself the whip city of the world, and at one time more than 60 whip enterprises operated there. This plant is the sole survivor still in operation. The interior has changed very little, and original machinery such as whip rounders, rattan splitters and thread winders remains, much of it still working. The property was listed for its link to the local whip industry and as a well-preserved example of late 19th century industrial building.","period_of_significance":"1887-1892","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In near-continuous use as a whip manufactory since the late 1880s; the interior is largely unchanged and much original machinery is still in use. The company is described as the only whip maker still operating in Westfield.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.97612-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/7952/63795297/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003233.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003233/4ba3046694-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003233/4ba3046694-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Westfield_Whip_Manufacturing_Company,_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:Westfield_Whip_Manufacturing_Company,_Westfield_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"08000506","name":"Westfield Center Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/westfield-center-commercial-historic-district-08000506/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795297","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfield_Whip_Manufacturing_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7988778"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/westfield-whip-manufacturing-company-85003233/"}