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Class of 2008 Grad Committee
info
Promoting Business
in Colchester:
Interested in other local history within the state? Please visit our
following website affiliates that are kind enough to list Colchestertalks.com
Visit Connecticut's Heritage Gateway
a program of
The Connecticut Historical Society
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Please click here.
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C.H.Norton Mill dam on
Jeremy River
In their prime,
Colchester Mills generated a total of over $50 million (2005 dollars) in annual
sales.
Also, these mills accounted for most
of the immigrant population growth for Colchester.
Mills the early years:
"Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries
small-scale industries continued to supplement the agricultural base of the
town. As early as 1704, Nathaniel Kellogg and Samuel Gillett obtained the
rights to erect and operate a sawmill on Governor’s Brook just southwest of
the village. An ironworks was in production in North Westchester by 1724. By
1833 a total of eleven sawmills and five grist mills were operating within
the town borders. Almost every small stream and brook in the town supported
a mill of some scale, including Salmon River, Day Pond Brook, Pine Brook,
Hall Brook, Sherman Brook, Deep River, Dutton Swamp, Jeremy’s River, and
Judd Brook.
Most of these mills likely served local needs, although the
area’s transportation network readily opened up more distant markets to the
larger operations. The basic saw mill and grist mill sites were continually
supplemented by more specialized firms, including such businesses as A.E.
Emmon’s tannery on Day Pond Brook, Wetherell’s paper mill near Comstock’s
Bridge on the Salmon River, the J. V. Bissell tannery on the Jeremy River at
North Westchester, Buell’s ironworks and grist mill, and Dickinson’s cotton
shoddy mill nearby. (Walling, 1854 map) The life spans of many of these 18th
and early 19th-century operations were quite short. Mills were constantly
threatened by floods and fires, and many of the mill ponds simply silted
over from extensive use. Abandoned mill sites and dams may well be
identifiable as industrial archaeological sites in many of the heavily
wooded areas of the town. A few sites, such as Comstock’s Bridge, North
Westchester ,and Packwoodville, remained key industrial locations for a
number of years. Each area developed it own small community of residences
and shops to support the local mill." (1)
Mills during America's Industrial Revolution:
The history of Colchester between 1850 and 1890 is the
story of the Hayward Rubber Company.
The company’s establishment in 1847 and rapid growth allowed the firm and
its directors to take control of much of the economic future of the
community. The development of local banks, a railroad, the volunteer fire
department, and several ethnic neighborhoods were all tied to the decision
of Nathaniel Hayward to locate his firm in Colchester. (2)
C. H. Norton Company and
Colchester Union Manufacturing Company.
(1) p. 30, Paul R. Lusignan, Town of Colchester,
Historical and Architectural Survey of Colchester, Connecticut 1991, np,
1991
(2) p. 40, Paul R. Lusignan, Town of Colchester,
Historical and Architectural Survey of Colchester, Connecticut 1991, np,
1991
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