ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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ColchesterTalks.com Free and open access to Colchester's rich history.
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In the beginning: The official Historical and Architectural Survey of Colchester, Connecticut briefly addresses the creation of the Borough. "... the Borough of Colchester was formed, enabling local assessments for the maintenance of streets, sidewalks, and other public amenities. Dr. John R. Watrous served as the first warden of the borough and continued in that role for several years." (1) Reading the text of the original Borough Charter and By-Laws yields a more telling perspective. By 1824, Colchester was two towns in one. Colchester was a major agricultural center. Yet, the center of town had Churches, fine homes, and merchant shops. Also, the center of town quickly became the hub of newly formed toll roads and turnpikes connecting Hartford-New London, Middletown-Norwich, Hebron-Middle Haddam and other surrounding towns. Local lore states that livestock being driven through town on those roads became an issue. The residents in the center of town were frustrated with livestock wandering through the properties of local residents and merchants. It's said that efforts to get the Town Selectmen to control the situation proved fruitless. As a result, John Watrous and others petitioned the General Assembly of the State of Connecticut to have the center of Colchester incorporated as a Borough. The Borough was run by:
Without the approval of Town Selectmen, the Borough was able to execute may duties such as:
The Charter was granted May 5, 1824. In quick fashion, by July 19, 1824 the first major by-laws were:
restraining swine, restraining geese, preventing trespasses in gardens.
And so began the Borough of Colchester, whose form of government lasted 167 years until 1991.
click here to see map of Borough circa 1880 (2)
(1) p. 29, Paul R. Lusignan, Town of Colchester, Historical and Architectural Survey of Colchester, Connecticut 1991, np, 1991 (2) published with permission of the Colchester Board of Selectmen
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