Many people in Northville and around Northville know about the return of the Chimney Swifts, but not many people know about Mr. Ray Hubbell. Each year the Chimney Swifts would return to their home in the chimney that was on the corner of 2nd Street and Bridge Street. This chimney was once a part of the Hubbell Factory which Ray Hubbell owned. Ray Hubbell''s parents moved to Northville with 5 year old Ray in 1854 with intentions of getting into the lumber business. Ray''s father, Sheldon Hubbell, built a sawmill along the river and lived there for 21 years. The Hubbell family then moved to Third street in Northville in 1875 after losing their sawmill to a fire for the second time. Once Ray Hubbell became older he went to Troy Business college and went into the mercantile business in 1871. In 1873 Ray married Emily Beecher and had their only son, Frank Hubbell, in 1877. In 1879 Ray started producing brass corners for oil cloth, a process he learned in a blacksmith shop on Bridge Street. Soon after this, Ray built a factory on the corner of 2nd Street and Bridge Street. Ray Hubbell was a very well-known business man and at one time was running 2 globe metallic binding company factories in Northville and 2 more outside of New York. Ray then built the Hubbell Glove Factory in 1833 where the Chimney Swifts would roost in the summer.
The
return of the Chimney Swifts was a huge event in Northville, gathering
people from all around to witness the birds return home. The Swifts returned to
the Hubble Glove Factory chimney around May 6th from the Amazon where
they spend their winters. The Factory was built in 1880 by Stephen Acker, although
the factory was owned by Ray Hubbell and James Cole. The swifts fly
over 5000 miles to come here for breeding season, and the date they come
back to the chimney is surprisingly the same day Ray Hubbell''s son, Frank
Hubbell, was born. The factory that Ray Hubbell owned burned down in 1890
and was then rebuilt with the tall chimney that the Swifts would soon call home.
The new factory burned down again in 1918. This made the chimney vacant
and the Swifts then used it as their home. When the Chimney Swifts arrived in
Northville they would spend about 15 weeks here. After people started taking
notice of the Chimney Swifts it became a celebration held each year since
1958. Every year people would watch as the Swifts would circle around the
chimney and then dive into it for the night. Due to structural problems with the
chimney, it was taken down in 2013 and the Swifts were forced to take refuge
somewhere else. This tower here is an effort to bring back the Swifts so that
people in and around Northville can witness these birds finally come home once
again.
Migratory
Patterns of Chimney Swifts
Chimney Swifts are one of the many types of birds that are considered long-distance migrators. During summer months they migrate to the East Coast of the United States to breed. In the winter, the Swifts live in North Western South America. Chimney Swifts are almost constantly flying. They even bathe in the air, plunging down into the water then launch back up into the sky while shaking the water off their bodies. The only time they are not flying is when they are roosting at night. Chimney Swifts rest vertically on cave walls, hallowed out trees, cliff faces, and chimneys.
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