The Main Street Historic District encompasses the historic portion of the central business district of
Willimantic, in
Windham, Connecticut
Windham ( ) is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. It contains the former city of Willimantic, Connecticut, Willimantic as well as the communities of Windham Center, Connecticut, Windham Center, North Windham, and South Windha ...
. The district encompasses the commercial business district of Willimantic and is roughly linear along Main Street (
Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...
) and Riverside Drive between Church Street and Bridge Street.
It was first listed on 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 1982.
Its area was increased in 1992 to include the Hall and Bill building on North Street, built in 1889 by one of Willimantic's leading printers.
Description and history
The urban center of Willimantic was first settled by English colonists in 1706, when a sawmill and gristmill were erected near the junction of the
Natchaug and
Willimantic River
The Willimantic River is a tributary of the Shetucket River, approximately long in northeastern Connecticut in the New England region of the United States.
It is formed in northern Tolland County, near Stafford Springs by the confluence of M ...
s. A drop further west on the Willimantic provided an additional source of water power, which was exploited in the early 19th century for the production of textiles. By 1836 there were six
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 lining the river, and the growth of Willimantic as an urban commercial hub and mill village was in full swing. Main Street, laid out in 1707, formed part of the major east-west Windham Turnpike established in 1799, bringing travelers through the village as well. Later in the 19th century it became a railroad hub for the region, with two major railway lines crossing.
[
Beginning about 1870, Main Street was transformed by this growth from a mainly residential thoroughfare to one lined by commercial businesses. The town of Windham's civic functions were relocated from Windham Center beginning in the 1890s, with the Georgian Revival Town Hall opening in 1896. The oldest surviving commercial/industrial buildings in the district are a pair of early wood-frame mill buildings dating to the 1830s; they are located near the southwestern end of the district.][
]
See also
*
References
{{Willimantic, Connecticut
Willimantic, Connecticut
Historic districts in Windham County, Connecticut
Italianate architecture in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Windham County, Connecticut
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut