Abandoned Mill, Colchester

Abandoned Mill, Colchester – George Perham

The town of Colchester, located in the western part of New London County, contains the villages of Westchester and North Westchester as well as the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation reservation. Settled by the English in 1698 in an area known as Jeremiah’s Farms, Colchester received permission from the Colony’s General Assembly to organize as an ecclesiastical society in 1703. Early industry included iron works, textile mills, and brick kilns. In the 19th century the town was home to the Hayward Rubber Company, which shipped its products throughout the US. Today, Colchester is a thriving bedroom community and the first Connecticut town to be certified as a community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

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Places

Connecticut Freedom Trail. “Benjamin Trumbull House,” 2012. Link.
“Colchester Historical Society,” 2014. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Day Pond State Park,” 2012. Link.
Connecticut Freedom Trail. “Old District Schoolhouse for Colored Children Site,” 2012. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Salmon River State Forest,” 2012. Link.

Documents

Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Colchester - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2013. Link.
“Colchester Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.

Books

Commemorative Book Committee. 300 Years of Colchester: A Commemorative Album, 1998.
Marshall, Benjamin Tinkham, ed. A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1922. Link.
The Story of the Twenty-First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, During the Civil War. 1861-1865. Middletown, CT: Stewart Printing Co., 1900. Link.
Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office, and Julie Horn. Viaducts, Bridges, and Ghost Trains: Air Line Railroad Archaeological District, Colchester and East Hamption, Connecticut. Westport, CT: Historical Perspectives, 2004.