Willimantic, Connecticut

Willimantic is a census-designated place located in Windham, Connecticut, United States. Previously organized as a city and later as a borough, Willimantic is currently one of two tax districts within the Town of Windham. Willimantic is located within Windham County and the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. Known as "Thread City" for the American Thread Company's mills along the Willimantic River, it was a center of the textile industry in the 19th century. Originally incorporated as a city in 1893, it entered a period of decline after the Second World War, culminating in the mill's closure and the city's reabsorption into the town of Windham in the 1980s.

Willimantic was populated by a series of ethnic groups migrating to the city to find work at the mills, originally Western European and French Canadian immigrants, later Eastern Europeans and Puerto Ricans.<ref name="MillsAndMigrants"/> Architecturally, it is known for its collection of Victorian-era houses and other buildings in the hill section, the Romanesque Revival town hall and several crossings of the Willimantic River, including the Willimantic Footbridge and the "Frog Bridge". It is home to Eastern Connecticut State University and the Windham Textile and History Museum. As of 2020, Willimantic had a population of 18,149 people.<ref name=CensusCommunityFacts>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

File:Willimantic Aero View.jpg

Aerial view of Willimantic, 1909

Willimantic is named for the Willimantic River which passes through it. The word was first attested in English writing as Waramanticut in 1684,<ref name="PublicRecords">Template:Cite book</ref> and later as Wallamanticuk, Wewemantic and Weammantuck before being standardized as Willimantic.<ref name="Douglas-Lithgow 1909">Template:Cite book</ref> The word is of Algonquian origin, either Mohegan-Pequot or Narragansett. It is commonly translated as "land of the swift running water", but the word more likely means "place near the evergreen swamp".<ref name="Etymology">Template:Cite web</ref> The town of Willimantic, Maine, is named after Willimantic, Connecticut.

Template:See also The surrounding town of Windham was founded in 1693 on land bequeathed by the Mohegan people. The first settler in what is now Willimantic was Samuel Ashley, who bought property there in 1717.<ref name="Lincoln 1920">Template:Cite book</ref> Until it was industrialized, the area was called "Willimantic Falls".<ref name="StreetFestivalHistory">Template:Cite web</ref> The first mill to be established was a picking and carding facility for wool, in 1806. Other mills followed, most notably a series of thread mills starting in 1822.<ref name="Lincoln 1920"/> As the city grew, it was incorporated as a borough in 1833.<ref name="PAST"/> Willimantic became known as "Thread City" for the proliferation of textile mills, primarily thread, along the river.<ref name="Hellmann 2006 p. 165">Template:Cite book</ref>

Willimantic became a city when its charter was revised in 1893. Up to the outbreak of World War II, it continued to be a center for the production of silk and cotton thread.<ref name="PAST"/> Various groups of immigrants arrived over the years to work in the mills.<ref name="MillsAndMigrants">Template:Cite web</ref> The city was a major rail hub; in the early twentieth century, as many as a hundred trains ran through Willimantic daily.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ornate Victorian homes were built in the town's Prospect Hill section, and the town prospered, growing from a population of less than 5,000 in 1860 to more than 12,100 by 1910.<ref name="CensusDecennial">Template:Cite web</ref>

But hard times followed; American Thread moved to North Carolina in 1985<ref name="RiseAndFall">Template:Cite web</ref> and without it, the town's economy foundered. The city consolidated back into the town in 1983.<ref name="Hamilton 1983">Template:Cite news</ref> The poverty rate, at 25.9%, was more than double the state average in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Heroin use, present since the 1960s, became a major public health problem in the early 2000s,<ref name=HeroinTown/> declining somewhat by the 2010s.<ref name=PositiveChanges/> In 2002, The Hartford Courant ran an investigative series called "Heroin Town" describing rampant heroin use in Willimantic, disproportionate to the town's small size,<ref name="HeroinTown">Template:Cite news</ref> which was followed by a 60 Minutes segment in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The coverage upset local residents, and the state appointed a task force to study the issue.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Hotel Hooker, long known for drug use and prostitution, was renamed to the Seth Chauncey Hotel and put under new management in 2004,<ref name="Braccidiferro 2004">Template:Cite web</ref> then renamed Windham House in 2005.<ref name="Fox 2005">Template:Cite news</ref> Drug and prostitution arrests peaked in the late 2000s with increased enforcement, and began to fall by 2010.<ref name="PositiveChanges">Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the census-designated place (CDP) has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.23%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Willimantic River and the Natchaug River converge to form the Shetucket River in southeastern Willimantic. The Hop River also flows into the Willimantic River at the western border.

Willimantic is, in part, bordered by rivers. Its western border follows the Willimantic River; its eastern border is formed by the Natchuag and Shetucket Rivers. The CDP borders the towns of Coventry, Mansfield, Columbia, and Lebanon. It also borders the CDPs of South Windham (which is in the same town as Willimantic) and Mansfield Center.

Demographics

Immigrants of many national origins populated the city. First, Europeans arrived to work in the mills—Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans and French Canadians. Later, Estonian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Puerto Rican immigrants moved to the town in search of mill jobs. As a mark of how strongly newcomers identified with their places of origin, Willimantic has many churches, even several from the same denomination: for example, one Catholic church for French Canadians, another for Irish, Polish and Italian immigrants.<ref name="MillsAndMigrants"/>

As of the 2010 US Census,<ref name="Census2010Willimantic">Template:Cite web</ref> there were 17,737 people, 5,812 households, and 3,324 families residing in the CDP. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 6,282 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.

The racial makeup of the CDP was 66.0% White, 7.5% African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 20.2% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.8% of the population, of whom the majority are (26.4%) Puerto Rican.Template:Citation needed

Of the 5,812 households, just over one third (34.2%) included children under the age of 18, 30.6% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 42.8% were non-families. About 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% of households were one individual aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the CDP the population's age distribution was 21.5% under age 18, 31.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males. For every 100 women ages 18 and over, there were 95.8 men.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $37,469, and the median income for a family was $45,254. Males had a median income of $37,111 versus $33,862 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $18,441. About 23.7% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.4% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Willimantic urban cluster is an area surrounding the CDP, which has a population of 29,669 as of the 2010 census.<ref name=UrbanArea>Template:Cite news</ref>

Economy

Willimantic's first factory was built in 1822 on Main Street by Charles Lee, followed by the first of the Jillson Mills in 1824. The Jillson Mills were bought in 1854 by a group of investors from Hartford, who formed the Willimantic Linen Company. In 1879, the Company built a woodworking factory to source its spools in Howard, Maine, which was renamed Willimantic in 1881. In 1880, the Willimantic Linen Company built its Mill No. 4, the first industrial building designed for electric lighting and the world's largest cotton mill at the time,<ref name="PAST">Template:Cite web</ref> which stood until it was burned down by two teenagers in 1995.<ref name="ONeill 1995">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The company was acquired by American Thread Company in 1898, and expanded production. The mill closed when the company moved operations to North Carolina in 1985.<ref name="RiseAndFall"/>

Major employers include Willimantic Waste Paper Company, which specializes in the collection and recycling of fiber products, scrap metal, and co-mingled plastic refuse,<ref name="Renczkowski 2010">Template:Cite news</ref> as well as Brand-Rex Corporation, which maintains a manufacturing making specialty wire and cable for commercial and industrial customers.<ref name="Haar 1998">Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2018, a fire destroyed the Willimantic Waste Paper processing plant, however it was rebuilt and is currently operating.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 26, 2021, Casella Waste Systems purchased Willimantic Waste Paper Company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Points of interest

File:Willimantic CT 33.jpg

A Victorian-era house in the Prospect Hill Historic District

Willimantic is home to a wealth of Victorian-era architecture. Prospect Hill Historic District is a National Register-listed historic district containing 993 buildings. Windham Town Hall, formerly Willimantic City Hall, is a Romanesque Revival building housing the town offices for Windham and Willimantic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Windham Textile and History Museum preserves and presents the history of the neighboring Jillson Mills and the rest of Willimantic during the Industrial Revolution. The Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, located where the Columbia Junction Freight Yard was, has a collection of locomotives and rolling stock, as well as a reconstructed six-stall roundhouse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Willimantic is the home of the Willimantic Footbridge. Built in 1907, it is the only footbridge in the United States to connect two state highways, as well as crossing all three major forms of transportation: road, rail, and river. The Thread City Crossing ("Frog Bridge") is a road bridge over the Willimantic River, opened to traffic in September 2000, featuring eight-foot high, green-painted bronze frogs sitting on concrete thread spools to represent Willimantic's history in textiles as well as the local legend of the Windham Frog Fight of 1754.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Culture

File:Downtown Willimantic, CT 01.jpg

The Third Thursday Street Fest in June 2018

Willimantic holds a Boom Box Parade every 4 July where, instead of a marching band performing, residents bring boom boxes tuned to WILI, the local AM radio station. The tradition started on Memorial Day of 1986, when no marching band was available for a parade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The parade has received national attention from the Washington Post.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For Valentine's Day, it runs a chocolate festival, including a baking contest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The event started with a popular set of T-shirts first printed in 1980, which led to the first crowning of a "Town Cupid" in 1982, now an annual event.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Once a year, the Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association offers tours of homes in the Prospect Hill Historic District as part of a "Victorian Days" event.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Starting in 2002, on the third Thursday of each month from May to September, the town holds the Third Thursday Street Fest on Main Street, an arts festival with live music and street vendors. The event is run by Willimantic Renaissance, a local nonprofit organization, and draws about eight thousand attendees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Willimantic is served by Windham Public Schools,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which administers public schools in Willimantic as well as in the rest of Windham. Willimantic itself has a public preschool, the Windham Early Childhood Center,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as Sweeney Elementary<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Natchaug School for primary education, Windham Middle School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for middle-school education, and Windham High School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for high-school students. Middle-school students can also apply for admission by lottery to the Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy in Windham.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Additionally, Willimantic contains the Arts at the Capitol Theater Performing Arts High School, administered by EASTCONN,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Windham Technical High School, part of the Connecticut Technical High School System. There is also a private Christian school, St. Mary-St. Joseph School, serving Pre-K through eighth grade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Eastern Connecticut State University, a four-year liberal arts college, is located in Willimantic, as is a satellite campus of Quinebaug Valley Community College.

Government

Before it was re-incorporated into Windham, Willimantic had a series of mayors;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Town of Windham was administered by a board of selectmen until 2009, when it changed to use a town council/town manager system with an elected mayor.<ref name=Funderburk_Elected/> As part of Windham, it is part of Connecticut's 2nd congressional district; in the Connecticut Senate, the 29th district,<ref>Template:Cite map</ref> and in the Connecticut House of Representatives, most of it is in the 49th district, with some western parts in the 48th district.<ref>Template:Cite map</ref><ref>Template:Cite map</ref>

Willimantic was the county seat of Windham County from 1893 to 1960, when the county system was abolished.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Windham Judicial District building is in downtown Willimantic as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Infrastructure

Transportation

Willimantic is served by several state routes: Route 14, Route 32, Route 66, Route 195, and Route 289. It is additionally served by the Willimantic Bypass (US 6), a controlled-access highway. Notably, the only connections to the outside world are via surface roads, as the Willimantic Bypass is only divided between its two intersections with Route 66. In the 1960s, Interstate 84 was intended to connect Willimantic to Hartford in the west and Providence in the east, but the plan was eventually abandoned.<ref name=I384Connecticut>Template:Cite web</ref> Though the city was a major rail hub, Interstate 84 only skirted the area between 1970 and 1983, until plans to continue the highway eastward were scrapped by 1984, after which time U.S. 6 was moved to the Willimatic Bypass.

Public transportation in Willimantic is provided by the Windham Region Transit District, which provides two in-town routes, and three intercity routes to Norwich, Danielson and Storrs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Historically, Willimantic was also served by intercity trolley service: from 1903 to 1936, a line ran southeast to Norwich, and from 1909 to 1926, another ran northwest to Coventry. Both lines ended at the downtown railroad yard, but did not physically connect, as they did not cross the tracks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Willimantic station, in early 20th century, when the station was a busy junction.

In the 19th century, three active rail lines passed through Willimantic: the Central Vermont Railway in 1849, running from New London in the south northward to Vermont, the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad (later purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) in 1849, running east-to-west, and finally a line of the New York and New England Railroad, running from Boston in the northeast towards New York via Middletown and New Haven in the southwest, in 1872, which also was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Willimantic was one of only a handful of stops between Boston and New York on the high-speed "White Train" of the 1890s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At its peak, the passenger rail system ran forty trains a day through Willimantic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The NH operated the Nutmeg and several unnamed local trains on an east–west route from Waterbury, through Hartford and Willimantic, and on east to Boston. These rail services ended in 1955 after a bridge was flooded out by Hurricane Diane.<ref>New Haven April 1955 timetable, Table 18</ref><ref>Official Guide of the Railways, August 1958, New Haven section, Table 7 (p. 154), Table 31 (p. 165)</ref><ref>Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. p. 112. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name=tcs>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Former Amtrak platform, Willimantic, CT.JPG

Former Amtrak platform for the Montrealer in downtown Willimantic.

Currently no active passenger rail service stops at Willimantic station, though formerly Amtrak's Montrealer stopped at the city from 1991 to 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Windham Airport (IJD), a nearby general aviation airport, is the only airport that directly serves the CDP. Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks is the closest commercial airport.

The Airline Trail South crosses the Willimantic River to enter Willimantic on a 2016 built path that ends at Bridge St.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Airline Trail North starts on Jackson St. across the street from Jillson Park, the trail then goes through the northeastern part of Willimantic before crossing the Natchuag River to leave the CDP and heading on to Putnam.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The Hop River Trail enters Willimantic on CT 66 (crossing over the Willimantic River) shortly before departing to follow the river to the Airline Trail, where it ends.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Utilities

Electricity and gas service is provided by Eversource. Municipal water and sewer services are provided by Windham Water Works.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Healthcare

Windham Hospital, a subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare, is a 130-bed community hospital serving the area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Veterans Administration also runs an outpatient primary-care facility on Main Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Generations Family Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, is also located on Mansfield Avenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

Willimantic is served by The Chronicle, a local paper founded in 1877 with continuous service since then, which also serves other towns in Eastern Connecticut.

Two commercial radio stations serve the Willimantic area: WILI AM 1400 (with a translator station to 95.3 FM), a news/talk/sports station, and its sister station WILI-FM 98.3, a top 40 station. Eastern Connecticut State University also broadcasts WECS, the local NPR affiliate, on FM 90.1.

Notable people

• William Bonin, serial killer known as the Freeway Killer
• Apathy (birth name Chad Bromley), rapper
• Nora Dannehy, Connecticut Supreme Court justice
• Chris Dodd, senator
• Eileen Farrell, soprano opera and concert singer
• Jennifer Guthrie, actress
• John Manning Hall, lawyer and state legislator
• Skip Holtz, football coach
• Julian Jordan, composer
• Jules Jordan, composer
• James A. Kowalski, clergyman
• John T. Lis, professor of molecular biology and genetics
• John S. Marcy, member of the New York State Assembly
• Alfred Henry Noel, mayor from 1969 to 1971
• Fred Norris, radio personality
• Isaiah Oggins, American spy for the Soviet Union, GULAG prisoner, and victim of Stalinism
• Helen Turner Watson, one of the first African American women to serve in the U.S Navy
• Ethel Paley, nursing home patient advocateTemplate:Div col end

In popular culture

Connecticut State Troubadour Hugh Blumenfeld wrote a "Willimantic Trilogy" of songs about the city from 1990 to 1995: "Thread City", "Main Street Sky", and "How Long".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007, writer-director A.D. Calvo filmed portions of his debut film, The Other Side of the Tracks, in Willimantic,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and in 2011, he returned to film the majority of his third feature, House of Dust, on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University and various other locations in town.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In Marvel Comics "Avengers: Celestial Quest", Mantis recounts raising her son, Sequoia, in Willimantic for a year. One of her fragmented manifestations would later return and be found by a clone of Thanos.<ref>"Avengers: Celestial Quest" Issue 1-2</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Windham/Willimantic Chamber of Commerce