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Disaster
From natural to manmade, disasters in our state’s history help define who we are as a community. In Connecticut’s early centuries, fires were among the most frequently occurring manmade disaster….
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Disaster on the Sound: The Collision of the Steamboats Stonington and Narragansett
…depicting John Reilly, first baseman for the Cincinnati Stars, who survived the disaster – Wikimedia Commons Terrified passengers crowded the decks of both steamboats, while both crews attempted to launch…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: King Blizzard
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “King Blizzard” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a collection of CPTV original documentaries….
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The Flood of 1936, Part 2
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The Flood of 1936, Part 2” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a collection…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The 1938 Hurricane, Part I
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The 1938 Hurricane, Part I” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a collection of…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The 1938 Hurricane, Part 2
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The 1938 Hurricane, Part 2” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a collection of…
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Video – When Disaster Struck Connecticut: The Flood of 1955
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The Flood of 1955” is excerpted from the program, When Disaster Struck Connecticut, and is part of a collection of CPTV…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The 1938 Hurricane, Part 3
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The 1938 Hurricane, Part 3” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a collection of…
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Video – When Disaster Struck: The Flood of 1936, Part I
YouTube – CPTV – Created by Connecticut Public Television. “The Flood of 1936, Part I” is excerpted from the program When Disaster Struck Connecticut and is part of a…
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The Tariffville Disaster – Today in History: January 15
On January 15, 1878, at about 10:00 in the evening, a span of the Tariffville Bridge gave way, plunging a Connecticut Western Railroad train into the Farmington River 20 feet…
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Hurricane of 1938: Connecticut’s Worst Disaster
By Nancy Finlay for Your Public Media Flooding in Middletown. September 22, 1938 – Connecticut Historical Society At 4:00 p.m. on September 21, the great Hurricane of 1938 made landfall…
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Horror on the Housatonic: The Railroad Disaster of August 1865
By Richard C. Malley for Your Public Media Railroads rode the cutting edge of transportation technology in the 19th century and, as with any new development, certain limitations soon became…
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Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?
…that the Hartford Circus Fire may be the worst human-caused disaster ever to have taken place in Connecticut. Thursday, July 6, 1944, was hot and humid but a fine day…
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The Steamboat New England: “The shock was dreadful” – Today in History: October 8
One of Connecticut’s worst steamboat disasters occurred on the dark and stormy night of October 8, 1833, on the Connecticut River. According to Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents, the New…
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Learning about the Lusitania: How Hartford Heard the News
…not release information about the disaster until nearly four hours after the event. Almost 12 hours after the ship sank, the Cunard office learned that lives had, in fact, been…
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Today in History – Fales & Gray Explosion Underscores Need for a Hartford Hospital
…arm was found “at some distance from the body.” Other victims were “horribly mutilated, and in some instances the bodies could scarcely be recognized.” Ellsworth Grant, in Connecticut Disasters, relates…
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The Hurricane of 1938 Rocks Connecticut
…absorbed with the Munich Conference and impending war in Europe, to comprehend fully the enormity of the disaster. It is even more difficult for present generations to appreciate what William…
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Disaster at Cold Harbor: Connecticut’s Second Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment
by Richard Malley Connecticut’s response to the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for three-month volunteer troops was immediate and significant. Throughout the state, men of military age enlisted…
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Hurricanes Connie & Diane Deliver Double Hit – Who Knew?
…Ribicoff called the floods, reported in the August 20, 1955, edition of The Hartford Courant, “the worst disaster in the state’s history” and immediately declared a state of emergency. The…
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Hard Times: Governor Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression in Connecticut
…of the greatest natural disasters in the history of Connecticut occurred during the depths of the Great Depression. In March 1936, heavy rains melted deep snow, resulting in an unprecedented…
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The Flood That We Forget: October 15 and 16, 1955
…the resulting flooding that some still consider the greatest natural disaster in the state’s recorded history. People forget that only two months later, Connecticut was hit again. Parts of the…
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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Connecticut Lessons from a Tragedy
…The young garment worker had not been killed in the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist fire. The disaster occurred in the New York City garment factory on March 25, 1911. One hundred…
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Eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death: 1816, The Year Without a Summer
…season, as now.” By the end of the month frost had killed much of the corn crop. The low temperatures of the summer months of 1816 spelled disaster for Connecticuters….
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Frozen Reservoir Destroys Danbury – Today in History: January 31
…Lake and Lower Kohanza Lake. While other natural disasters, such as floods and hurricanes, have threatened the area throughout the centuries, the 1869 deluge remains the town’s single worst disaster….
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“Appalling Calamity”: Loss of the Steamboat Lexington – Today in History: January 13, 1840
…13, 1840″ from Steamboat Disasters and Railroad Accidents in the United States by S. A. Howland, 1846. Only two miles off Eaton’s Neck, Captain George Child turned the boat toward…
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The White Mountain Express Derails in Greenwich
…strangers by the score and the hundred answered the call.” Throughout its history, the Town of Greenwich has seen many emergencies and disasters. Each experience caused the town to reexamine…
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A Busy Airfield in Bethany
…at aviation regularly ended in disaster. In 1932, a plane piloted by Irving H. Merriman of Waterbury crashed near the airport—luckily the pilot escaped with little more than “a shaking.”…
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Torrington Recovers after the Flood of ‘55
…equally compelling and less appreciated story involved the resilience of local residents and their recovery from one of the worst natural disasters in the state’s history. Within just a few…
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The Collapse of the L’Ambiance Plaza
…corporation. No Charges Filed in L’Ambiance Disaster In the end the federal prosecutor in Connecticut recommended no charges be filed, stating that there was insufficient evidence on which to bring…
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Bridgeport’s Catastrophic 1911 Train Wreck
…was a disaster, with twisted and crushed metal strewn about and flames shooting from several parts of the wreck. Illustration of the Federal Express Train Wreck, July 11, 1911 from…
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Deadly Fire at Gulliver’s – Today in History: June 30
…of the American Red Cross sent an emergency unit with a fully trained Red Cross first aid disaster team as well as a canteen service to provide food and coffee….
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Fire Ravages Cos Cob School – Today in History: July 29
…were treated for heat exhaustion by Greenwich Emergency Medical Services (GEMS). Police regulated the traffic on the Post Road. The Cos Cob Ladies Auxiliary, Red Cross Disaster Service, and local…
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Eighty-Five Hundred Souls: the 1918-1919 Flu Epidemic in Connecticut
…of the deadliest natural disasters in history. World War I certainly contributed to the pandemic. The first wave of flu, in the spring of 1918, appeared in Fort Riley, Kansas,…
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Park Central Hotel Boiler Explosion – Today in History: February 18
…Hartford citizens, insurance company presidents, and politicians arose in common voice to demand stricter building inspection. Hartford hotel disaster, 54 High Street, Hartford, February 17, 1889 – Connecticut Historical Society…
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The Hartford Circus Fire – Today in History: July 6
…almost 7,000 people, a fire broke out and spread through the Big Top. Called the worst disaster in Hartford’s history, the fire killed 168 and injured 487, including many children….
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Misread Signal Leads to Deadly South Norwalk Train Wreck – Who Knew?
…appeared as part of the article “What a Disaster!” in Connecticut Explored (formerly Hog River Journal) Vol. 9/ No. 4, Fall 2011. Note: ConnecticutHistory.org does not edit content originally published…
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Six Cities Respond to 1902 Waterbury Fire – Who Knew?
…2011, and Elizabeth Normen, the magazine’s publisher. © Connecticut Explored. All rights reserved. This passage originally appeared as part of the article “What a Disaster!” in Connecticut Explored (formerly Hog…
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Mianus River Bridge Collapses – Today in History: June 28
…the extent of the disaster. One unnamed hero, a man journeying home to Atlanta with his wife, had, upon spotting the collapse, exited his car and waved traffic to a…
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The Hartford Circus Fire
…No one had any idea they were about to play a part in one of the worst disasters in Connecticut history. Following a performance by the French lion tamer, Alfred…
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The Great Hurricane of 1938 – Today in History: September 21
…state, the deadly hurricane took its toll. Today it is remembered not only as the worst natural disaster to befall the town but also as the most devastating hurricane in…
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Almost a Tragedy: The Collapse of the Hartford Civic Center
By Ben Gammell for Your Public Media Talk about close calls. It could have been the worst disaster in Connecticut history. On January 17, 1978, a Tuesday evening, 4,746 basketball…
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Civic Center Roof Collapses – Today in History: January 18
On January 18, 1978, at about 4:20 in the morning, the Hartford Civic Center roof collapsed. Ten days of bad weather coupled with a snowstorm the prior evening were responsible…
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Chamberlin Mill: A Woodstock Survivor
…history. Surviving Natural Disasters The Great Flood of 1936 permanently altered how the mill functioned. Although the building itself survived, the flood surged through the mill, damaging its penstock and…
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Hamilton Wrecks Aeroplane – Today in History: April 22
On April 22, 1911, aviation pioneer Charles Hamilton crashed his brand new, all white, biplane the “Moth” at Andrews Field in New Britain. Hamilton, a New Britain native, began his…
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Waterbury Tornado – Today in History: May 24
On May 24, 1962, a tornado hit the towns of Waterbury, Wolcott, and Southington. One person was killed by a falling tree and at least 39 others were injured. The…
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Aunt Polly and Its Preservation
Screen actor, director, and playwright William Gillette owned a houseboat he named Aunt Polly, supposedly after a woman who once cared for him when he was ill. The 144-foot steamship,…
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The Surprising Prevalence of Earthquake Activity in Connecticut
While often not associated with the typical West-Coast imagery that comes with reports of earthquake activity, Connecticut has a surprisingly under-appreciated history of seismic disturbances. The majority of significant earthquake…
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Aetna Helps Make Hartford “The Insurance Capital of the World”
By Patrick J. Mahoney During the 19th century, a number of insurance companies established their headquarters in the city of Hartford, earning it the nickname, the “Insurance Capital of the…
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The Great Atlantic Hurricane Hits Connecticut
By Patrick J. Mahoney In September 1944, ongoing news of World War II gripped headlines across the United States. On eastern shores, coast watchers and residents remained vigilant in their…
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Avon Industry: From Underground to Outerspace
…new enterprise the Climax Fuse Company and made Albert Andrews its first president. Growth, Disaster, and Diversification Climax Fuse Company, 1908 – Avon Free Public Library and the Treasures of…
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Charlton Publications: Song Lyric Printing Business to Major Player in the Comic Book Industry
…famous Hanna-Barbera television animation series including Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, and Rocky & Bullwinkle. Disaster and Recovery A selection of the comics Charlton published – Joe DiRienzo Two major hurricanes…
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Hurricane Gloria: “Storm of the Century”
On September 16, 1985, a Cape Verde tropical storm originated off the African coast. By the time it reached the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center labeled it a Category 4…
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The 1961 Hartford Hospital Fire
By Elizabeth Correia On December 8, 1961, the casual disposal of a cigarette spread raging flames and deadly smoke through Hartford Hospital. The fire ravaged the ninth floor and killed…
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G. Fox & Co. Destroyed by Fire – Today in History: January 29
On January 29, 1917, at about 11:00 pm, watchmen discovered a fire on the ground floor of the G. Fox & Co. building complex located on Main Street in Hartford….
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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1965-Now
Cities in Transition Hartford’s Front Street neighborhood is leveled to make way for Constitution Plaza In the late 1950s an alliance of legislators, urban planners and corporate leaders lobbied successfully…
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Waterbury Burns – Today in History: February 2
High Winds Whipped Waterbury Fire On the evening of February 2, 1902, and into the morning of February 3, nearly all of Waterbury’s downtown district was destroyed by one of…
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Fire at Wesleyan’s North College – Today in History: March 1
On March 1, 1906, North College at Wesleyan University in Middletown was destroyed by fire. Built in 1825 by the American Literary, Scientific, and Military College established by Captain Alden…
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Connecticut and the Embargo Act of 1807
…They had opposed Jefferson from the beginning and considered the embargo both a mistake and a disaster. Some sought to evade the unpopular act, smuggling British goods from Canada using…
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A Night to Remember: When the Steamboat Took on the Railroad—and Lost
By Richard C. Malley for Your Public Media Steam power captivated the popular imagination in the 19th century. Regular steam navigation on the Connecticut River dates back to the early…
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The Day Four Trains Collided in East Thompson
Thompson, Connecticut, was the site of one of the most horrific railway accidents in American history. The catastrophe claimed the lives of two railway workers, injured hundreds of passengers, and…
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Colt Armory Burns – Today in History: February 4
On February 4, 1864, most of Colt’s East Armory burned to the ground. Located in Hartford on the Connecticut River, the Armory complex covered 260 acres and consisted of forge…
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Firefighters Answer the Call in Greenwich
By Karen Frederick and Anne Young In 1879 Greenwich’s first fire department was organized—Amogerone Engine, Hook, Ladder and Hose Company, No. 1. (Prior to 1879, residents and businesses relied on…
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The Blizzard of 1888 – Today in History: March 11
On Sunday, March 11, 1888, a blizzard came unexpectedly to the northeastern United States. A cloudy and rainy day toward the end of winter took a turn for the worse…
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Bursting of the Staffordville Reservoir – Today in History: March 27
On March 27, 1877, the Staffordville Reservoir Company’s dam burst, flooding the valley for a distance of five miles and causing the loss of two lives. The dam, on the…
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Steamboat Accident – Today in History: March 29
On March 29, 1876, the steamboat City of Hartford, of the New York and Hartford steamboat line, hit the Air Line Railroad Bridge on the Connecticut River at Middletown carrying…
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Fuller Brush Tower Collapses – Today in History: March 31
Fuller Brush building following collapse of tower, 1080 Windsor Avenue, Hartford – Connecticut Historical Society On March 31, 1923, a 56,000-gallon water tank dropped through 4 concrete floors of the…
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The Great Wallingford Tornado – Today in History: August 9
On August 9, 1878, a tornado swept from west to east across the northern part of Wallingford. The most destructive tornado to ever have struck the state, it cut a…
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New Haven Coliseum Imploded – Today in History: January 20
On January 20, 2007, the 35-year-old New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum—better known as the New Haven Coliseum—met its end at approximately 8 o’clock in the morning as crews imploded the…
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Meriden Town Hall Burns Down – Today in History: February 14
On February 14, 1904, Meriden’s town hall burned to the ground. In total, the fire caused $130,000 in damages and injured 6 firefighters. Started by what authorities think were crossed…
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Colonel Augustus G. Hazard, Gunpowder Manufacturer – Who Knew?
…that Connecticut resident, Augustus G. Hazard owned and operated over 100 gunpowder mills in the Hazardville section of Enfield. Born in Kingston, Rhode Island, at the turn of the 19th…
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Blizzard of 1888 Devastates State
By Jeannine Henderson-Shifflett Sunday, March 11, began as an unseasonably warm day but, as the day turned to evening, the weather turned colder. As the snow started to fall, optimistic…
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The Greenwich Avenue Fires of 1908 and 1936 Sparked Upgrades to Town’s Emergency Services
By Karen Frederick and Anne Young On July 17, 1908, the day following the White Mountain Express train wreck, the most disastrous fire on Greenwich Avenue since 1900 broke out….
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Bucket Brigade to the Rescue – Today in History: September 12
On September 12, 1873, the bell in the Episcopal Church rang the cry—Mr. Bailey’s carriage house, located in the center of town, was on fire. It soon became clear that…
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Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey
…Haiti, the former Pearl of the Antilles, had fallen into a pattern of disaster after disaster, facing revolution, revolt, and civil war followed by famine, disease, earthquake, and hurricanes. When…
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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime
1779 General Putnam rides down today’s Put’s Hill to rally support in Stamford in an effort to rescue the Town of Greenwich from the invasion of British troops. 1903 Glenville’s…
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Byram River Flood – Today in History: October 15
A few minutes before 11:00 pm on October 15, 1955, Greenwich officials pulled the alarm signal and declared a state of emergency. When the alarm sounded, rivers and streams were…
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The Plainville Town Hall Catches Fire
Built in 1890, the three-story Plainville Town Hall quickly became the center of daily life in town. Housing the library, police department, and fire department, as well as offices for,…
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Fire and Ice: A Very Bad Week in 1914
By Bethany Gallant for Your Public Media Hartford’s Union Station, completed in 1889, acts as downtown’s western boundary and is the visual transition point between the business district and the…
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The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business
By Dawn Byron Hutchins Joseph Toy, his wife, and their three children arrived in New York City from England on a mid-August day in 1839 on a mission for his…
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The “Welcoming Beacon” of Sheffield Island Lighthouse
…tenure as lightkeeper, the island’s residents witnessed one of the worst marine disasters in history. In January 1840, when the steamship Lexington cruised toward the Sheffield Island lighthouse, gusts of…
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What’s in a Number? Connecticut’s Thirteenth Regiment Goes Off to War
By Richard Malley Following the Union disaster at Bull Run in July 1861 additional regiments were raised throughout the north to continue the struggle. Among these was Connecticut’s Thirteenth Volunteer…
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Amateur Radio Comes of Age in Connecticut
…such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, town disaster teams, and Connecticut Light & Power. QSL card 1AW – Hiram P. Maxim’s radio callsign was…
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A Total Eclipse of the Sun – Today in History: January 24
…eclipses are no longer regarded, as by the ancients and savages, as auguries of war and disaster, but as opportunities for scientific research, fraught with the possibilities of new fields…
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Preserving an All-American Downtown in Torrington
…disasters, including the Naugatuck River flood of 1955, and its ability to prosper in a time when shopping centers and strip malls lure residents into outlying areas. Torrington overcame these…
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Branford Gets On the Trolley
…of damaging natural disasters proved prohibitive to cost-effective operation. The combination of all these factors led the Connecticut Company (owners of the Branford line) to discontinue service in 1947. The…
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An Artist’s Life in Hartford: The Early Career of Dwight Tryon
…a garret.” Twitchell, too, predicted disaster if Tryon gave up business for art, but the young man persisted. The Cheney family, owners of Cheney Brothers Manufacturing Company, a vast complex…
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The Thimble Islands – Little Islands with a Big History
The Thimble Islands are a chain of 365 islands in Stony Creek Harbor off the southeast coast of Branford in Long Island Sound. This archipelago was first recorded as “Thimble…
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A Separate Place: The New Haven Colony, 1638-1665
…essentially confirmed Connecticut’s Fundamental Orders and established very broad territorial boundaries for the colony. From the New Haven point of view, the Charter of 1662 was a disaster: by its…
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The British Raid on Essex
…vessels that had been destroyed. The prevailing local attitude was that the disaster had resulted from the federal government’s total neglect of its duty to protect this important shipbuilding community….
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Crew of the Whaling Schooner Margaret 1907
…Civil War and various arctic disasters were discouraging. In addition, there were clearly a declining number of whales in accessible waters. Because of the combination of these factors, the industry…
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Enforcing Law and Order in Greenwich
…needs, disaster response coordination, and terrorism prevention. Many of today’s recruits have a four-year college degree as well as additional graduate education. The police of the Town of Greenwich work…
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Guilford’s One-Man Fire Department
By Gregg Mangan In the early decades of the 20th century, the town of Guilford had a fire department stationed on Chaffinch Island. Credited by the Chief of the New…
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Warren Congregational Church, a Longstanding Community Center
…does not fall into the dilapidated state of its predecessor, while other fundraising activities support families affected by natural disasters, provide educational opportunities for women, and support famine-relief efforts worldwide….
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Blizzard of ’88 Shuts Greenwich Off from Outside World
…strangers by the score and the hundred answered the call.” Throughout its history, the Town of Greenwich has seen many emergencies and disasters. Each experience caused the town to reexamine…
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Health Department Fights Unseen Enemies During World War I
…1918: Spanish Influenza In 1918 Spanish influenza, a major disaster in world history, hit Greenwich. The first notice appeared in The Greenwich News and Graphic on September 20, 1918: “Health…
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Picture This: Seeing Connecticut in 3-D
…An entire series taken in 1914 shows the process of weaving and dying silk at the Cheney Silk Factory in Manchester. Natural disasters were popular, with many pictures of events…
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The Peace Movement in Litchfield
…into the Federal Service . . . the reports of Hospital Surgeons and the medical press have shown the disasters which have resulted from mustering men having ‘Hernia, Varcicle, [sic]…
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Laboring in the Shade
…placed an ad in the New York World in December 1915 for 500 girls to work as sorters, offering free transportation. This led to a public relations disaster. Emmett J….
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The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
By David Drury The greatest epidemic in human history, the so-called Spanish flu of 1918, killed tens of millions of people worldwide. Some recent estimates have placed the death toll…
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Built on Innovation, Saved by Nostalgia: Hitchcock Chair Company
…flooded areas. Though the factory reported $100,000 in damage and lost turnings and machines, disaster assistance helped the company get back on its feet. By October 1955, Hitchcock had returned…
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Black Loyalist Refugees: Toney Escapes During the Burning of Fairfield
By Alec Lurie When English warships landed at Fairfield’s Kenzie’s Point in July 1779, townspeople knew disaster was in store for coastal Connecticut. Some, however, saw British flags as a…
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