Discover the past and present of some of Newtown’s lesser-known historical sites in The Newtown Bee’s series dedicated to retracing the role these places once played in town and what they stand as today.

Formerly: A.G. Baker’s Furniture Store, Samuel B. Blackman’s General Store, The Hawleyville Lace Curtain Factory, Upham Food Products Plant, De Sherbinin Products, and Edelman Leather

Currently: Mission Allergy

Location: 28 Hawleyville Road

When was it built or established? A.G. Baker constructed the building in 1877 for his furniture warehouse, because of the property’s proximity to the Hawleyville railroad, where roughly 150 trains passed through daily.

According to Newtown Connecticut: Past and Present published in 1975 by the League of Women Voters in Newtown, “Hawleyville was an important railroad junction, with a number of railroads converging there that were later to become part of the New Haven Railroad. Connections were made to and from Danbury, Pittsfield, Litchfield, Waterbury, Bridgeport, and Bethel.”

What is its historical significance? For nearly a quarter of a century, Mr Baker occupied the building as a furniture retail outlet, until his death in 1901.

The following year, S.B. Blackman turned a portion of the building into a general store while the Hawleyville Lace Curtain Factory occupied the upper rooms.

“These operations continued until about 1915,” Newtown Historian Daniel Cruson noted in Images of America: Newtown.

Around that time, local resident William Abel Upham took notice of the Hawleyville building as an ideal spot for his Upham Food Products Plant and purchased the building for his business days later in 1916.

“He used to go down to take the train to New York, where he had his offices, then one day, he was looking out... at the building across the street and decided that’s what he needed for food processing,” Mr Cruson told The Newtown Bee.

Originally, Mr Upham manufactured peanut butter in the factory, but when peanut oil became scarce during World War I, he focused on other foods.

According to Images of America: Newtown 1900-1960 by Mr Cruson, Mr Upham invented the tea ball — the predecessor to the tea bag — in 1919.

He had the idea while out at dinner in New York when he saw a waiter prepare coffee with a pre-measured bag of coffee grounds. The sight sparked his idea to package pre-measured tea so that people could brew a single fresh cup instead of an entire pot.

Originally, he designed a tea ball that used cheese cloth, but was unsatisfied with it because it left an aftertaste. He then partnered with the Johnson and Johnson Company to develop a gauze that did not alter taste of the tea.

He manufactured that product at the plant in Hawleyville and shipped it out worldwide. Due to the convenience and novelty of the invention, he made a substantial fortune.

“During the 1920’s, he also began producing tea balls for other tea companies such as Chase & Sanborn, Tetley, and Salada as well as for the A&P and other national chain stores,” A Mosaic of Newtown History, also authored by Mr Cruson, tells. “The last major development in the tea bag came about the time of the Second World War when filtered paper was substituted for the gauze, and the modern tea bag was born. This is also when the term tea bag was substituted for tea ball.”

Mr Upham’s wealth later allowed him to make more of an impact in Newtown, including establishing a Japanese Tea Garden, creating one of the largest outdoor and indoor mini golf courses in Connecticut, and donating the necessary funds for the Hawleyville Volunteer Fire Company’s firehouse and secondhand REO Speed Wagon.

“By 1921, when Upham decided to purchase rather than lease the 25,000-square-foot Hawleyville factory building, he had 50 employees making the tea balls at a rate of 100,000 a day,” Mr Cruson chronicled in A Mosaic of Newtown History.

Mr Upham’s Food Products Plant continued until his death in 1949.

In 1952, the building was used for De Sherbinin Products, “which produced lamp parts and adapters,” A Mosaic of Newtown History reported. The shop was known for selling the popular 1950s’ Pat Boone lamp.

In the late-1980s, Edelman Leather moved its offices into the Hawleyville building and used the entirety of the space. When the business outgrew the building, it was rehomed to New Milford before the Edelman family sold the company.

What occupies it today? Jeffrey Miller, MD, purchased the red Hawleyville building from the Edelman’s in December of 1999 for his company, Mission Allergy. The business opened the following year and has kept many of the building’s historical features intact, with the exception of replacing the roof.

Mission Allergy provides patients with products scientifically tested and proven to be effective for allergen-avoidance. The company makes and distributes products, including pillowcases and mattress casings, to people with allergies.

Today, the building houses everything from Mr Miller’s office, loft, and research laboratory to a company waiting room, customer service call center, and storage space for inventory being stored and shipped.

Interested in learning more about a specific historical place in Newtown? Send suggestions to features reporter Alissa Silber at alissa@thebee.com or call 203-426-3141.