{"nrhp_refnum":"87000037","name":"Van Deusen, H. M., Whip Company","other_names":["Stanley Home Products Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"42 Arnold St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.12284374700005,"lon":-72.75027741099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-one-half-story red brick whip factory at 42 Arnold Street, Westfield, Massachusetts, built in 1917 under the direction of owner/builder Henry Martin Van Deusen, with two later one-story additions.","why_significant":"It was the last major whip factory built in Westfield, the city known as the \"Whip City of the World,\" and is tied to the final consolidation of the carriage whip industry. It is also linked to Henry Martin Van Deusen, a business and civic leader. Its traditional load-bearing brick construction was old-fashioned for 1917 and is now rare in the city.","narrative":"Built in 1917 at 42 Arnold Street in Westfield, Massachusetts, this red brick factory was the last large whip manufacturing plant erected in the city once called the \"Whip City of the World.\" Henry Martin Van Deusen, then 66, planned and built it with his son Spencer. The three-and-one-half-story building uses load-bearing brick walls, segmental-arched openings, a brick exterior elevator tower and multi-light wooden windows. Even in 1917 this was a traditional approach, since reinforced concrete was available. Van Deusen rose from whip braider to independent manufacturer and became a banker, legislator, school committee chairman and the town's largest individual taxpayer. The company stayed independent until his death in 1930. Stanley Home Products bought the building in 1936 and added office wings and an elevator before moving away in 1971. The factory is one of six such structures still standing in Westfield. It was rehabilitated as thirty-eight apartments in 1984-1985.","period_of_significance":"1917-1930","architect_builder":"Henry Martin Van Deusen","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Main block in excellent condition; interior converted to 38 apartments in 1984-1985 through a certified rehabilitation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.395394-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/7953/63795301/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000037.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000037/e841f28ec9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000037/e841f28ec9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H._M._Van_Deusen_Whip_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:H._M._Van_Deusen_Whip_Company,_Westfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795301","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._M._Van_Deusen_Whip_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5628410"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/van-deusen-h-m-whip-company-87000037/"}