Willimantic
Willimantic means “land of swift running water.” The source of the name for this community, renowned as Connecticut’s “Thread City,” was the powerful current caused by a 90-foot drop in the Willimantic River as it flowed from the northwest portion of the town to the point where it emptied into the Natchaug River. Starting with Thomas Hartshorn, who built a sawmill at the location in 1706, the natural current has been a source of power for a variety of mills and factories along the banks of the river. The Jillson brothers built the city’s first cotton mill in 1824 on the present site of the American Thread Company. Within a decade, mills and factories lined the Willimantic River. Wagons, and large wood barrels filled with cotton that were rolled over the dirt roads, were the only method to get raw cotton to the mills and finished goods to market. Seeking more dependable transportation, Willimantic merchants were more than enthused when John Palmer paid them a visit in early 1847. He quickly convinced them that a railroad from New London, through Norwich, a rival mill town to the southeast, and into Willimantic would assure them of a connection with the rest of the country.
On a brisk November day in 1849 the first train, powered by a locomotive like the one shown here, arrived in Willimantic from Norwich with two passenger cars in tow. However, since the last portion of the line had not been completed the passengers had to transfer to carriages “down back of John Moulton’s house.” From there, the Willimantic Chronicle continued, “passengers were transferred by teams up to the place opposite Hardin Fitch's where the tracks from Palmer had reached.” 1 It must have been quite a spectacle to see such a modern smoke-belching beast arrive in town - greeted, no doubt, by every young boy who stood in amazement at the power of nature harnessed by man. Within several weeks, the tracks were connected and the need for the carriage ride was eliminated.