The Daniel's Village Archeological Site is a historic industrial archaeological site in

Killingly, Connecticut Killingly is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. Killingly is the largest town by population in the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Northeastern Connecticut ...

. Located in the vicinity of the crossing of Putnam Road and the

Five Mile River The Five Mile River is a river located in Connecticut's northeast corner which flows through the towns of Thompson, Putnam, and Killingly. The original Nipmuc name was ''Assawaga'', meaning "place between" or "halfway place". The Assawaga re ...

, the area is the site of one of the earliest

textile mill Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

s in Connecticut. The mills burned in 1861 and were not rebuilt, ending the village's economic reason to exist. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978. The entire site was purchased in 2015 by a historic building expert who has put the original parcel back together. It is now private property. The area was settled in the early 18th-century, and has an industrial history dating to the 18th century, when a gristmill known as Talbot's Mill was operating at the site. In 1814, local landowners combined with investors from

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

to establish a cotton mill at the site. It was first known as Howe's Factory, after its managers, and was acquired by the Daniels family in 1845. By this time, the village had grown to include a store, blacksmith's shop, at least nine buildings for worker housing, and three separate mill buildings. The mill buildings burned in 1861, and were not rebuilt. The Daniels family sold the property in 1888, and its remnants were reduced to ruins by the early 20th century. Visible elements of the site include the early 19th century stone dam, and the stone house at the corner of Putnam and Stone Roads. The house was built after the 1814 purchase, and is basically Georgian in style, with a gabled roof and five-bay main facade. Also found at the site are foundational remnants of the mill, including portions of the tailraces of both the grist and cotton mills. Arrayed near the stone house are foundational remains of some of the worker housing.NRHP nomination for Daniel's Village Archeological Site, 1977

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Historic districts in Windham County, Connecticut Archaeological sites in Connecticut Killingly, Connecticut Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Connecticut

See also

References