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Regional History

Historically, Willimantic served the region as a railroad and manufacturing hub. The rail lines connected Willimantic to the commercial world, while the mills attracted investment and transformed Willimantic into a national economic power. From the end of the Civil War to the outbreak of World War II, Willimantic was the center for the production of silk and cotton thread. This was the Victorian era and the height of Willimantic’s grandeur. Many of the interesting buildings in Willimantic, as well as many of the homes in the Victorian Hill section, were built during this time. It is said that Willimantic has the most Victorian buildings per capita in the country. The town has three historic districts: Windham Center, Main Street and Prospect Hill.

Grant House on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University

The Willimantic River is characterized by a granite bedrock riverbed that was quarried in the mid 19th century to shape the channel, build the dams and to construct the historic mill complex. Windham Mills is a beautiful example of a restored granite mill building. For more information on Willimantic's rich history check out these web sites:

So what’s with all the frogs and thread?

It all started in June of 1754. The villagers of Windham were awakened in the middle of the night by terrible sounds coming from up the road. The settlers prepared for battle fearing it was an Indian attack. When morning came the villagers grabbed their guns and marched towards the direction of the noise. When they arrived at the nearby pond the villagers were shocked to find the bodies of hundreds of dead bullfrogs.

Those frogs that were still alive were heading towards the Willimantic River. The reason for the Bullfrog Battle was unclear. Some say there had been a drought, and the Bullfrogs were fighting for territory. Others say it was not a particularly dry summer, and there had been no drought. Another version is that the Miller had opened the dam's gate leaving the water level quite low. The pond was named Frog Pond from then on. The villagers took the frogs on as their mascot. To this day, you can see frogs all over Windham. Now about thread. Many towns in Connecticut have nicknames according to what their factories produced, or what the town was or is famous for. Norwich is the self proclaimed "Rose of New England" because the town was once a very wealthy community, and is nicknamed the "Rose City". New Britain is the "Hardware City" because of its large hardware industry. Meriden is the "Silver City". Manchester is "Silk City". Willimantic is the "Thread City" because of the American Thread Company, which was the largest employer in town. And that is why we have a bridge with giant frogs sitting on spools of thread!