The southern Litchfield County town of Thomaston is located at the confluence of the Naugatuck River and the Northfield and Black Rock Brooks. From 1795 through the late 1800s, present-day Thomaston was the Plymouth Hollow section of Plymouth. Here, clockmaker Seth Thomas earned fame for his mass production techniques and also helped bring the Naugatuck railroad to the hollow. Named in honor of this entrepreneur, Thomaston incorporated from Plymouth in 1875. The town’s industry largely concentrated along the Naugatuck River, with outlying areas remaining agricultural in nature. Today, the Thomaston Opera House, built in 1884, still serves as a cultural center for the town.
Learn More
Places
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Mattatuck State Forest,” 2017. Link.
Railroad Museum of New England. “Naugatuck Railroad,” 2016. Link.
Documents
Thomaston Public Library. “Digitized Historic Newspapers - Various Dates & Titles,” 2016. Link.
“Map - South Part of Litchfield Co., Connecticut from Page 214 & 215 of Town and City Atlas of the State of Connecticut.” Real Property. Boston, MA: D.H. Hurd & Co., 1893. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
“Photograph: Machine Room in Clock Factory, Thomaston,” undated. Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
“Photograph: Seth Thomas Clock Factory, Thomaston,” 1949. University of Connecticut Libraries, Archives & Special Collections. Link.
“Thomaston Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Bailey, O. H. “View of Thomaston, Conn. 1879.” Bird’s-eye. Boston, MA: Bailey, 1879. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Books
J.W. Lewis & Company. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Company, 1881. Link.
Pape, William J. History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut. Vol. 1. Chicago; New York: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918. Link.
Wassong, Joseph. Thomaston. Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia, 2003.