In Wrentham, a chance for renewal

WRENTHAM - Crosby Valve was Wrentham's equivalent of Balfour in Attleboro, a downtown anchor for decades that energized businesses, provided hundreds with employment and brought in needed tax revenue.

Local officials are however focusing on helping owner Tyco and adjacent property owner FMC Corporation market and develop the 40-plus acres of vacant land to bring some of the luster back to the center of town.

The buildings could fit the mode of the latest urban renewal planning of having businesses on a first floor and housing on upper floors as neighboring Norfolk is pursuing for its downtown.

"It would be nice if the town could work with two different owners on a single project to complement each other and benefit the town," Carroll said.

The original building used

The original building used by Crosby Valve was constructed in the early 1900s for Winter Brothers Machine, which manufactured taps and dies for the automotive industry. A few years afterwards World War II, the business was sold to Crosby Valve, which was purchased by Tyco in 1998.

The historical commission has obtained some artifacts, including valves, a tool box, an old fire alarm box and photographs from the business that pretty much was the last link to Wrentham's industrial past, Stahl said.