Connecticut Towns and Cities:
How They Grew

Factory Villages

Manufacturing grew rapidly in the early 1800’s, as factories were constructed to take advantage of the waterpower provided by Connecticut’s many fast-flowing rivers and streams. Though some businesses—such as the mills that grew up along Hartford’s Park River—were located in existing communities, many new towns were created at this time. In order to attract and maintain a workforce, many factory owners provided all their workers’ needs: housing, churches, schools, libraries, and company stores where workers could find everything they needed for their families. While some factory owners were truly concerned with their employees welfare, others tried to restrict their freedom and control their lives. Hours were long, work was hard, and often every member of the family, including young children, were employed.

< The village of Willimantic developed within the town of Windham in the 1820s, as manufacturers took advantage of the waterpower provided by the Willimantic River. By the 1830s, there were six cotton mills, a satinet factory, and a paper mill situated along its banks. While Willimantic grew into a booming industrial city, Windham itself has a remained a quiet country town until the present day.

Unknown
Panoramic view of Willimantic
Willimantic, ca. 1900
Photo CD:2822 File:Img0079.pcd

< One of the large factory buildings of the American Thread Company is prominent in the foreground. In 1898, the American Thread Company absorbed the Willimantic Linen Company, which had been manufacturing textiles in Willimantic since the early 1850s. Most of the workers in the city were employed its mills.

Unknown
American Thread company:
view from the roof
Willimantic, ca. 1900
Photo CD:0539 File: Img0093.pcd

< The long rows of similar-looking housing units in close proximity to the main building of the American Thread Company were built to serve its workers. Families lived in one or two-family units and boarding houses were provided for single workers.

< The Hartford Manufacturing Company, a producer of cotton sheeting, took over what had been a gunpowder mill in an area of Glastonbury in 1814. Pardon Brown’s woolen mill occupies the other large building. Worker housing is visible along the road to the left of the factory buildings.

< This view was taken about 50 years after the Barber drawing of Cotton Hollow in Glastonbury. The mills remain standing and the roofs of the worker housing can be seen down among the trees. They were still in use as a paper mill in 1900, but burned down around 1920. Today virtually nothing remains of this once-thriving community.

< Samuel Collins established his company for the manufacture of axes and other edge tools on the Farmington River in the town of Canton in 1826. Barber’s view made ten years later stresses the rural setting, surrounded by hills and fields. Worker housing is in the left foreground, beyond the rail fence. The seated figure is a self-portrait of the artist.

< This view shows Collinsville as it appeared in the early 20th century. Factory and houses still cluster in the valley of the Farmington River. A catastrophic flood which swept through the valley in 1955 ultimately led to the closing of the company.

Link to other essays in this Journey:

>> Introduction: Connecticut Towns and Cities: How They Grew
>> Early Towns
>> Town Greens
>> Transportation Hubs
>> Expansion into Suburban Living

>> Guideposts
>> Suggestions for further reading