Of all the many factories and diverse industries that sprang up across Connecticut during the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century, one of the longest lasting was the silk-spinning industry, which coalesced around the Cheney Brothers silk mills in Manchester. Opening their first silk-processing mill in 1838, the Cheney brothers sought to capitalize…
Tag: Great Depression
January 6: A Wartime Departure From an Ancient Tradition
Long known as “the Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut is home to scores of political and cultural traditions that span generations, including many that stretch back into the colonial era. One such tradition has been the Inaugural Ball, a ceremony filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance thrown for newly elected governors by the…
December 29: A Timely Move in a Great Depression — Preserving America’s Golden Age of Sail
The village of Mystic, Connecticut — which is actually not its own town, but a borough straddling the two towns of Groton and Stonington — has been associated with sailing, fishing, and shipbuilding for hundreds of years. The village’s earliest shipbuilding enterprises date to the late 17th century, when English settlers set up shop…
December 21: 30 Billion Gallons of Water Later, a Community Was Gone Forever
In 1929, the Connecticut General Assembly approved the creation of the Metropolitan District Commission, a non-profit corporation designed to help design and implement long-term plans for managing the water supply of the greater Hartford region. The very next year, the MDC assumed operations of several reservoirs located in the hills in the western part…
July 29: A Determined Minister Swims for Justice
In 1926, a group of eastern Connecticut investors hoping to capitalize on the state’s new car culture, expanding highway system, and Roaring 20’s prosperity, purchased a large spring-fed wetland in Andover Connecticut. They cleared trees, cut roads, and built the 550 foot-long dam that created beautiful Andover Lake. When it was completed in 1928,…
March 31: Say “Cheese” Connecticut! — The Country’s First Statewide Aerial Photo Survey
In 1933, Connecticut Governor Wilbur L. Cross, determined to move forward with infrastructure improvements in spite of budget constraints caused by the Great Depression, presented the State Planning Board with a formal request for an aerial photographic survey of the entire state. Governor Cross reasoned that a detailed set of photographs would be an…
February 26: The Rise and Fall of Manchester’s Silk Industry
Of all the many factories and diverse industries that sprang up across Connecticut during the Industrial Revolution of the early 19th century, one of the longest lasting was the silk-spinning industry, which coalesced around the Cheney Brothers silk mills in Manchester. Opening their first silk-processing mill in 1838, the Cheney brothers sought to capitalize…
January 6: The Inaugural Ball That Didn’t Happen
Long known as “the Land of Steady Habits,” Connecticut is home to scores of political and cultural traditions that span generations, including many that stretch back into the colonial era. One such tradition has been the Inaugural Ball, a ceremony filled with plenty of pomp and circumstance thrown for newly elected governors by the…
December 29: A Timely Move in a Great Depression — Preserving America’s Golden Age of Sail
The village of Mystic, Connecticut — which is actually not its own town, but a borough straddling the two towns of Groton and Stonington — has been associated with sailing, fishing, and shipbuilding for hundreds of years. The village’s earliest shipbuilding enterprises date to the late 17th century, when English settlers set up shop…
December 21: 30 Billion Gallons of Water Later, a Community Was Gone Forever
In 1929, the Connecticut General Assembly approved the creation of the Metropolitan District Commission, a non-profit corporation designed to help design and implement long-term plans for managing the water supply of the greater Hartford region. The very next year, the MDC assumed operations of several reservoirs located in the hills in the western part…
July 29: A Determined Minister’s Swim for Justice
In 1926, a group of eastern Connecticut investors hoping to capitalize on the state’s new car culture, expanding highway system, and Roaring 20’s prosperity, purchased a large spring-fed wetland in Andover Connecticut. They cleared trees, cut roads, and built the 550 foot-long dam that created beautiful Andover Lake. When completed in 1928, they ran…
March 31: The First Statewide Aerial Photography Survey in the US
In 1933, Connecticut Governor Wilbur L. Cross, determined to move forward with infrastructure improvements in spite of budget constraints caused by the Great Depression, presented the State Planning Board with a formal request for an aerial photographic survey of the entire state. Governor Cross reasoned that a detailed set of photographs would be an…