Meriden, in New Haven County, is located in south-central Connecticut, with the Quinnipiac River cutting through its southwestern portion. Formerly known as North Farms, the area was incorporated as a town from parts of Wallingford in 1806, and became a city in 1867. Industrialization brought a manufacturing boom and Meriden began producing everything from ivory combs, buttons, tinware, and cutlery, to coffee grinders and organs—though Meriden would eventually become famous as the Silver City. In 1944, the War Manpower Commission named Meriden “The Nation’s Ideal War Community,” for its industrial and patriotic contributions during World War II. Today’s economy is primarily service-based.
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Meriden’s Silver Lining
Despite large numbers of local industries going out of business by the start of the Civil War, Horace and Dennis Wilcox, helped establish a lucrative silver industry in Meriden. …[more]
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Websites
“Connecticut State Police Museum,” 2016. Link.
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries. “International Silver Company Records,” 2016. Link.
Smithsonian Institution. “The Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company - Masters of Metalwork,” 2016. Link.
Places
Meriden Historical Society. “Bernice C. Morehouse Research Center,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Freedom Trail. “George Jeffrey House,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Freedom Trail. “Martha Minerva Franklin Gravesite,” 2016. Link.
“The Meriden Historical Society,” 2016. Link.
Documents
O.H. Bailey & Company. “City of Meriden, Conn.” Boston: O.H. Bailey & Company, 1875. Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Meriden Daily Journal (Various Issues 1880-1950),” 2016. Link.
Library of Congress, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Meriden Daily Morning Journal and Courier (1894-1907),” 2016. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Meriden Daily Republican (Various Issues 1857-1898),” 2017. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Meriden Morning Record (Various Issues 1899 -1924),” 2017. Link.
Google News Archive. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Record Journal (1980-2009),” 2017. Link.
“Map - North Part of New Haven Co., Connecticut from Town and City Atlas of the State of Connecticut.” Boston, MA: D.H. Hurd & Company, 1893. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Meriden - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2016. Link.
“Meriden Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Fowler, T. M. (Thaddeus Mortimer). “View of Meriden, Conn.” New York: Hughes & Bailey, 1918. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Books
Wendover, Sanford H. 150 Years of Meriden: Published in Connection with the Observance of the City’s Sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956. Meriden, CT: Meriden Sesquicentennial Committee, 1956.
Gillespie, Charles. An Historic Record and Pictorial Description of the Town of Meriden, Connecticut and Men Who Have Made It. Meriden, CT: Journal Publishing Company, 1906. Link.
Perkins, G.W. Historical Sketches of Meriden. West Meriden, CT: F.E. Hinman, 1849. Link.
Rockey, J. History of New Haven County, Connecticut. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Preston, 1892. Link.
Davis, Charles. History of Wallingford, Conn. from Its Settlement in 1670 to the Present Time, Including Meriden, Which Was One of Its Parishes Until 1806, and Cheshire, Which Was Incorporated in 1780. Meriden, CT: C.H.S. Davis, 1870. Link.
Franco, Janis. Meriden. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2010.
Meriden Economic Development Corporation, and Brenda Vumbaco. Meriden: Connecticut’s Crossroad: An Illustrated History. Northridge, CA: Windsor Publications, 1988.
Tobin, Diane. The Meriden Flint Glass Company: An Abundance of Glass. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.