Billings Satinette Mill, Somers

Billings Satinette Mill, Somers – Jerry Dougherty

The town of Somers, located in Tolland County, is in north-central Connecticut and borders Massachusetts. Once a part of Massachusetts, men from Enfield moved to the area permanently and formalized the settlement in 1713. In 1734, the town was incorporated, and in 1749 Somers became a part of Connecticut (along with Enfield, Suffield, and Woodstock). Somers thrived as an agricultural region as well as an industrial area. The milling of grain and lumber were the town’s first industries. Although still recognized for agriculture and farming, today Somers is known as the home of Connecticut’s two prisons—the Northern Correctional Institution and the Osborn Correctional Institution.

More on Somers from the CT Digital Archive

Browse more interactive content on the CT Digital Archive website.

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West view, Somers CT

Somers School of the Prophets

The Reverend Charles Backus opened one of the more prodigious schools of the prophets in Somers, Connecticut. …[more]

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Places

Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Shenipsit State Forest,” 2016. Link.

Documents

Connecticut State Library. “Digitized Historic Newspaper - Thompsonville Press,” 2016. Link.
University of Connecticut Libraries, Archives & Special Collections. “Finding Aid to the Somersville Manufacturing Company Records,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Somers - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2016. Link.
“Somers Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.

Books

Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families. Chicago, IL: J.H. Beers & Co., 1903. Link.
Somers Historical Society, and Jeanne DeBell. Somers. Charleston,  SC: Arcadia, 2001.
Davis, Fred. Somers the History of a Connecticut Town. Somers,  CT: Somers Historical Society, 1973.
Somers Historical Society. Somers, Connecticut Through the Camera’s Eye. Somers, CT: Somers Historical Society, 1978.
Allen, Francis, ed. The History of Enfield, Connecticut. Lancaster,  PA: Wickersham Printing Company, 1900.