|
Bent, G.H., Company Factory
|
|
|
|
|
| Location: | 7 Pleasant St., Milton, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Area: | less than one acre |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 00000075[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | February 10, 2000 |
The G.H. Bent Company, better known as Bent's Cookie Factory, is a business specializing in cookies that has been operating in Milton, Massachusetts, since 1801.
Besides cookies, Bent's sells a number of other baked goods including their George and Martha Washington pies (both have powdered sugar on the top, the George with a cherry filling, and the Martha with a lemon filling).
In 1801, Josiah Bent began a baking operation in Milton, selling "water crackers" or biscuits made of flour and water that would not deteriorate during long sea voyages from the port of Boston. The crackling sound occurred during baking, hence the name. While the company likes to say that this is where the American term "cracker" originated, the OED has a citation for its use in 1739. His company later sold the original hardtack crackers used by troops during the Civil War.
In 1891, George H. Bent, the grandson of Josiah Bent, built the current structure at 7 Pleasant Street. The top two levels of the factory are where the cookies and other baked goods are made while the storefront is located on the street level.
On February 10, 2000 the G.H. Bent Company Factory was added to the National Register of Historic Places, reference number 00000075. In April 2001, Senator Ted Kennedy visited GH Bent Company to unveil the official National Register plaque and make remarks in honor of the bicentennial of the Bent cracker.
In early 2006, there was a gas explosion at Bent's which blew out all of the windows. However within weeks Bent's was up and running again.
|
||||||||||||||||||||