Cromwell - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

The Stevens-Frisbie House, Cromwell
– Daniel Sterner, HistoricBuildingsCT.com

The town of Cromwell, located in Middlesex County, lies on the Connecticut River just north of Middletown. Originally part of the Mattabesset settlement, in 1651, the area became known as Middletown Upper Houses—being separated from Middletown by the Sebethe River. Settlers thrived in the area and, in 1851, incorporated, completing their separation from Middletown and forming the town of Cromwell. Named after Oliver Cromwell, an English military and political leader, the town today has two distinct historic districts, the Main Street Historic District and the Middletown Upper Houses Historic District. Both of these areas are on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Cromwell’s Iron Men Made Toys for Boys and Girls

The J & E Stevens Company eventually became the largest manufacturer of cast-iron toys in the country. …[more]

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Places

“Cromwell Historical Society,” 2012. Link.

Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “River Highlands State Park,” 2012. Link.

Documents

Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Cromwell - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2013. Link.

“Cromwell Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.

Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center,  University of Connecticut Libraries. “Finding Aid to the J. & E. Stevens Company Records,” 2016. Link.

“Photograph - General View of New England Brownstone Quarry, Cromwell,” Between  and 1909 1890. Connecticut History Online, Connecticut Historical Society. Link.

Books

Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Middlesex, Connecticut: From Actual Surveys. New York, NY: F.W. Beers & Company, 1874. Link.

Decker, Robert, and Margaret A. Harris. Cromwell, Connecticut, 1650-1990: The History of a River Port Town. West Kennebunk,  ME: Cromwell Historical Society, 1991.

Beers, J.B., & Company, and Henry Whittemore. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut, with Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men. New York, NY: J.B. Beers & Company, 1884. Link.

Society of Middletown Upper Houses, and Charles Adams. Middletown Upper Houses a History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut, from 1650 to 1800, with Genealogical and Biographical Chapters on Early Families and a Full Genealogy of the Ranney. New York: Grafton Press, 1908. Link.

Greater Middletown Preservation Trust, Judith Johnson, and William H. Tabor. The History and Architecture of Cromwell. Middletown,  CT: Greater Middletown Preservation Trust, 1980.