Map of Willimantic, CT, 1869

Map

Windham Textile and History Museum

Map of Borough of Willimantic, CT, 1869.

The image depicts a framed historical map titled "Borough of Willimantic," located in the town of Windham. The map, enclosed in an elegant golden frame, showcases detailed illustrations of streets, railroads, and geographical features of the area. It includes a comprehensive business directory that lists various establishments, providing insights into the commercial landscape of the period. In the bottom right corner, there's an inset map of "North Windham," highlighted in pink, that offers additional geographic context. The map combines artistic elements with informational content, capturing the intricate design typical of vintage cartography.

Name/Title

Map of Willimantic, CT, 1869

Entry/Object ID

2024.65.01

Description

Map of Borough of Willimantic in the Town of Windham [CT], 1869, with an inset of North Windham village in 1869. The map is from Oliver Cromwell Gray and C. G. Keeney, "Atlas of Windham and Tolland Counties" [Hartford: C. G. Keeney, 1869]. It has been removed from the atlas and framed.

Context

From Jamie Eves, "Historical Atlas of Windham, CT" (https://millmuseum.org/historical-geography-of-windham/): "The Civil War was a time of rapid growth in Willimantic. The New Willimantic Linen Company took over both the old Jillson Mill (in 1854) and the rebuilt Richmond Mill (1858). In 1857, the Linen Company (which manufactured cotton thread, despite its name) constructed it large gneiss Mill No. 1 just east of the old Jillson Mill, which the Company converted into a spool shop. In 1863 the Company erected its massive gneiss Mill No. 2. The Company had stockpiled cotton before the Civil War (1861-65) and made big profits during the war, when cotton was scarce in the North. In 1864 the Linen Company began construction of the Model Village (also called Iverton, after Lawson Ives, one of the owners of the Linen Company), an extensive neighborhood of company-owned worker row houses across the street from Mill No. 2. The map above is enhanced: the roads and streets that had been there in 1855 are colored black, while new streets are colored yellow. The city had become less linear, as new streets had been added both on the south and (especially) the north, where the new streets had begun to climb the slopes of Prospect Hill. The Old Willimantic Cemetery was depicted on the west end of the borough. A third rail line had come to Willimantic, the Boston, Hartford, and Erie. The New London, Willimantic, and Palmer Railroad has been renamed the New London Northern Railroad."

Collection

Magnuson Collection

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Map

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Cartograph

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Map Details

Maker or Creator

Oliver Cromwell Gray and C. G. Keeney, "Atlas of Windham and Tolland Counties" [Hartford: C. G. Keeney, 1869].

Place Published

City

Hartford, CT

Region

Northeast

Continent

North America

Date Published

1869

Publication Language

English

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Includes frame.

Height

24 in

Width

35 in

Location

Exhibit Room

Thread Mill Square

* Untyped Location

Main Museum Building

Date

November 30, 2024

Condition

Overall Condition

Very Good

Date Examined

Nov 30, 2024

Examined By

Eves, J.

Copyright

Type of License

None

Copyright Holder

Public Domain

Copyright Date

1869

General Notes

Note

The Museum owns two other copies of this map, unframed.

Created By

historian@millmuseum.org

Create Date

November 30, 2024

Updated By

historian@millmuseum.org

Update Date

November 30, 2024