USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 53
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The rapid growth of Winsted in the early years of its history was due largely to its manufactures, which increased and prospered largely because of the splen- did water power that was to be obtained. The first grist mill was that of David Austin. The second grist mill was built on the site of the Gilbert clock factory, about 1776, by Elias Balcomb. The saw mill also made its appearance early in the settlement of the town. The first one was operated by Deacon Samuel Wet- more and was near the old meeting-house. A vote was passed in 1779 regard- ing the water privilege connected with it. Besides turning out lumber, both rough and finished, these mills got out white ash sweeps, oars, and materials for ship blocks and they were carried to Hartford for river navigation. Dish mills for making wooden bowls, trenchers, and mortars became accessories to the saw mills. It is said there were eight of these in operation in the town before 1800, four being on the lake stream. John McAlpine is spoken of as having built a shop in Winchester early in the last century for making scale boards, used for separat- ing cheeses when packed in casks. Later cheese boxes were made in the same mill.
Benjamin Jenkins and James Boyd established the third scythe factory in the country, on Still River in 1792. At least four others were built here within the next forty years, and it became a leading industry in the town. In 1795 Jenkins and Boyd erected the first forge in Winsted, on the lake. They "manu- factured refined bar iron from the best quality of Old Salisbury Ore. Three others were erected in town within a dozen years." This, with the scythe busi- ness, constituted the staple manufacturing business of the town until 1840.
A machine for cutting shingle nails was operated by James Boyd for a short time in 1808. Two years later James Byington erected a nail factory near the Winsted scythe works and for a time during the war of 1812 he had more men in his employ than any other factory in town.
Elizur Hinsdale established a factory for making axes, near the head of the lake, in 1804 or 1805.
The first wire factory in the country was erected on the west wing of the clock factory dam in 1812 by Samuel and Luther Hoadley and James Boyd.
There were at least three shoemakers who did tanning in town before 1800. After it was found that hemlock bark could be used as a substitute for oak bark, Col. Hosea Hinsdale and Col. James Shepard erected a large tannery at the foot of Spencer Street in 1802. Three or four other tanneries were erected later.
SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL TOWER, WINSTED
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Joseph Platt built the first clothing shop and fulling mill in Danbury quarter between 1783 and 1787. Daniel Marshall was the first clothmaker in Winsted. He had a shop and fulling mill on Lake Street before 1794. A carding machine was added later.
In 1813 Rockwell Bros. began the manufacture of broadcloths and satinets there. Three other factories of a similar nature were established in town.
Samuel and Luther Hoadley and Riley Whiting began the manufacture of wooden clocks about 1807.
Two firms began to make hand and machine cards at the beginning of the war of 1812.
There were four or five shops for making wagons in the early part of the last century and others were built later on.
A distillery was in operation on Wallins Street soon after the close of the war of 1812.
An oil mill was erected on Mad River, west of Clifton mill, by Bissell Hins- dale about 1816 and was operated for a number of years.
Iron clock bells were manufactured by Hoadley Bros. about 1810.
A foundry for casting stoves, plows and gears was operated by Nathaniel Gaylord from 1834 for twelve years. Four or five other iron foundries have since been established. There have also been several machine shops. As the middle of the last century was approached, many other industries sprang up, some of which are in operation today.
One concern was in operation which it is to be regretted could not have been retained, as it is now of immense proportions. Boyd says of it: "The Borden Condensed Milk Co., consisting of Gail Borden, Theron Bronson and Elhanan W. Fyler, was organized in 1863 and purchased the factory building near the Naugatuck Depot, now occupied by the Winsted Printing Co., in which they condensed milk until 1866, when, not finding the location favorable for the busi- ness, the concern was wound up."
A petition was made to the general assembly in 1786 for the incorporation of the easterly part of Winchester and the part of Barkhamsted west of the Farmington River into the town of Winsted. The west boundary was to be Highland Lake and the second tier line which extended just easterly of Coe Street. The petition was continued to the sessions of 1787 and 1788 and finally rejected. The last attempt to divide the town was made in 1790 and proved unsuccessful as before and the project was finally given up.
In the Annals of Winchester, Mr. Boyd describes a visit he made to Win- chester center at a Fourth of July celebration in 1810 or 1811. He wrote in part as follows: "The whipping post and stocks, those indispensable pillars of New England law and order, stood on the green near the meeting house. The post did extra duty as a sign-post on which public notices were fastened and to which when occasion required the petty thief was tied to receive from the constable his five or ten lashes 'well laid on to his naked back.' The 'stocks' were an upper and lower plank, say six feet long, eight inches wide and two inches thick, the lower one lying edgewise near the ground, mortised at one end into the post and firmly fastened to the ground at the other. The upper plank was attached to the post at one end by a heavy hinge so that its lower edge came in contact with the upper edge of the other, and they were held together by a hasp and padlock at their outer ends. At the line of junction of the two planks were four holes, half in the upper and half in the lower plank, about three inches in diameter, ranged at suitable distances for receiving the ankles of two culprits."
Winchester's part in the civil war requires a volume to tell the story of the
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bravery, the sufferings, the sacrifices, the successes and victories of the honored men who risked their lives in the great struggle to preserve the union. Three soldiers' monuments in the borough attest in a degree the reverence which pos- terity has for those noble heroes.
BEGINNINGS OF WINSTED BOROUGH
In order, it was said, to secure an efficient fire organization, an application was made to the general assembly in 1833 by a number of inhabitants of the west village for a borough charter, under the name of Clifton. The section be- tween the two villages of East and West Winsted having been partially built up, an application was made to the general assembly in 1858 to repeal the defunct borough charter of Clifton and to organize a new borough covering both sections, to be known as Winsted. The charter was granted in June of that year, and officers were elected on August 2nd as follows: Warden, William H. Phelps ; burgesses, Rollin L. Beecher, Edward Camp, John T. Rockwell, Charles Cook, Charles B. Weed, John G. Wetmore ; treasurer, John Hinsdale ; bailiff, Caleb P. Newman.
The borough authorities went immediately to work. They had a survey and plan made of all the streets within the borough. The street through the center of the "east village green" was closed and parallel streets opened on the east and west sides. The intervening space was then fenced, graded and planted with trees by private subscriptions under the corporate name of "Park Place" at a cost of about $2,000. The first sidewalk ordered to be graded was on the northerly and easterly side of Main Street, from the park to Spencer Street, a distance of a mile and twenty rods. It was to be rounded to a width of five feet. Part of it was at first planked, and later covered with concrete and the remainder flagged.
THE BOROUGH WATER WORKS
On August 30, 1858, the warden and burgesses were instructed "to ascertain whether the borough has a right to draw water from Long Lake."
As a result, the general assembly at its May session in 1860 gave authority to the borough to take water from Long Lake or Little pond for fire and other purposes and to raise the surface of the water in the lake or pond four feet above the high water mark. The water could be taken only for fire purposes until the water had risen two feet above the waste weirs as located at that time and the outflow for manufacturing purposes was not to be wasted in greater quantity than theretofore. A permanent loan of $25,000 was authorized to secure the rights of flowage, construct the dam, lay mains, etc. A provision was also made for the appointment of water commissioners and for the establishment and collection of water rents.
On August 1, 1860, Lyman Case, John T. Rockwell and William L. Gilbert were elected water commissioners and they were directed to make the contem- plated improvements.
During the administration of Dr. H. Hungerford Drake as commissioner, from 1872 to 1879, the bulkhead was rebuilt, the embankments strengthened and the combination waste weirs and roadway built in place of the bridges. As the years went by, the system was extended through new streets about the borough.
In order to improve Winsted's water system still further, on June 11, 1890, William L. Gilbert attached a codicil to his will giving the borough $48,000 to tunnel the mountain between Rugg Brook and Crystal Lake, provided the borough would construct proper dams and canals before June 11, 1895, so as to make a reservoir in the Rugg Brook basin and greatly increase the outflow.
MAIN STREET, WEST WINSTED, 1875, NEAR PRESENT Y. M. C. A.
the
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NEW Y. M. C. A. BUILDING, WINSTED
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As a result of Mr. Gilbert's generous bequest, at a meeting July 29, 1892, the borough appropriated $40,000 and appointed T. C. Richards, G. B. Owen, Henry Gay, David Strong, R. H. Moore, J. E. Spaulding, Edward Finn, R. E. Holmes, E. P .- Wilcox, E. A. Nellis and H. H. Drake a committee to carry on the work. The sum of $35,000 was also appropriated to raise Crystal Lake ten feet and lay water mains to the borough, the latter work to be done under the supervision of the water commissioners. T. C. Richards was elected president of the commit- tee, Henry Gay vice president and H. H. Drake secretary. On January 31, 1893, contracts were signed with Babcock, Lary & Co. to tunnel the mountain and construct Rugg Brook Reservoir and the works connected therewith. E. P. Wil- cox and H. H. Drake were appointed a special committee to supervise the work. The tunnel was constructed through solid rock about 6 feet high, 6 feet wide, and nearly 4,000 feet long. The masonry dam at Rugg Brook is 29 feet high, 29 feet thick at the bottom and 300 feet long. Two earth dams were built, one being 20 feet high, 112 feet thick at the base and 52 feet long, the other 14 feet high, 168 feet long, 75 feet thick at the base with a masonry core. The masonry dam across Mad River is 14 feet thick at the bottom and 168 feet long. Crystal Lake was raised 10 feet by a rubble masonry dam 548 feet long and II feet thick at the bottom. The surface of the lake was increased in area from 96 acres to 146 acres and in cubic contents the lake was increased 53,143,200 feet. On March 4, 1893. the water ran over Rugg Brook dam for the first time and four days later it ran through the tunnel. The water ran over Crystal Lake Dam December 5, 1895, and on July 20, 1896, it was turned into the new mains for the first time.
By the provisions of the revised charter of the borough adopted in 1897, the office of water commissioners was abolished on the first Monday of May, in that year, and a superintendent of water works elected in their place.
In October, 1908, in order to increase the water supply in Crystal Lake, the dam was raised twelve inches and in 1910, to prevent extravagant waste, water meters were placed in the factories and the places of business of large users of water.
There are now about twenty-six miles of water main laid, ranging in size from twenty-four inches down to four inches.
In 1915 the commission form of government was adopted, consolidating the government of the Town of Winchester and that of the Borough of Winsted. In 1917 these are the board of selectmen in charge of the affairs of the town: Patrick J. Darcey (who had been warden of Winsted for four years prior), chairman ; James J. Bannon, Edward R. Beckley, Horace A. Hotchkiss, James J. Walsh ; town clerk, C. Wesley Winslow : assessors, Geo. L. Foskett, Francis Sage, Mills T. Carter ; registrars of voters, John J. Winn, Felix Gallagher ; treasurer, J. Albert Smith ; collector, John J. Burke.
POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
When the town building was erected in the late 'zos, provision was made for a station house in the basement, three very strongly built cells being constructed.
The town court of Winchester having jurisdiction of all the criminal business within the town was established the first of June, 1899. thus doing away with the trials for criminal offenses before justices of peace, as had been the custom. The wearing of police uniforms was inaugurated in 1889, and the keeping of police records in May, 1892. There are four officers now on duty at night, one remaining at headquarters from 6 o'clock P. M. until 5 A. M., and three doing patrol duty from 6 o'clock P. M. through the night, two going off at 5 o'clock
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A. M. and one at 6 o'clock A. M. The present superintendent of police is Stephen C. Wheeler.
The Winsted fire department, which was first organized in 1862, now con- sists of four well organized and equipped hose companies, occupying commodious and up-to-date fire houses of brick construction in as many different parts of the borough, representing an outlay of about thirty-five thousand dollars, a hook and ladder company and an engine company. Union Hose Company No. I is located at the corner of Main and Munro Streets in the west end of the borough, and has the new combination hose and chemical truck. Winsted Hose Company No. 2, Winsted Hook and Ladder Company No. I and Winsted Engine Company No. I are housed in the borough Building on Elm Street, in the business center, and all three are equipped with horse-drawn apparatus. The chief of the fire depart- ment in 1917 is Charles Stone.
WINSTED'S SEWER SYSTEM
In 1910 Winsted engaged the services of Rudolph Hering, an expert sewerage engineer, and Joseph Young of New York to lay out a feasible plan for a sewer system. This, together with a garbage collection system, is in effect now, in modified form.
WINSTED'S LIGHTING SYSTEM
The Winsted Gas Co., which was organized in 1861 and incorporated under the laws of the state, has the contract for lighting the borough and also furnishes the residents with gas and electricity for heating, lighting and power purposes. The gas works are located on Case Avenue and Gay Street, as is also the new electric light and power station. The first electric light station was built in con- nection with the plant of the Winsted Edge Tool Works, but after two years, in the fall of 1888, an electric station was erected at Tunxis Falls, Robertsville, and since then the current for lighting the streets has been generated there.
HISTORY OF WINSTED'S SCHOOLS
The history of Winsted's schools goes back to December 17, 1773, when the first educational tax was passed. The district thus early established was continued until 1909, and it was not until recent years that the plan of the originators was generally declared inadequate. With each district providing for its own children, however, it was found that while the schools within the old borough had kept up with the times, those in the farming districts had been neglected, and with the steadily decreasing number of rural families, the matter of giving such children the proper attention was each year getting to be more of a problem. Consequently the plan of transporting children from one district with poor accommodations to one with ampler privileges was begun and met with success.
In 1909 the town voted to consolidate the districts, and today it would seem that Winsted will stand among the leaders in the way of graded schools. The committee is constantly devising and recommending plans for the improvement of conditions both in the borough and in the outlying districts. In 1911 $5,000 was appropriated for a new school building at Winchester, to improve the school facilities in that section.
Taking advantage of the provisions of the statute of the public acts of 1902, the board of school visitors on September 5, 1904, voted to unite with the Town
MEMORIAL LIBRARY, WINSTED
THE W. L. GILBERT SCHOOL, WINSTED
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of Norfolk to form a joint supervision district and this arrangement is still in effect. One-half of the sum paid to the supervisor is returned by the state and as the supervisor spends two-thirds of the time in Winchester, this town bears two-thirds of the remaining expense.
Improvements that have come since the consolidation of the districts include medical inspection, the regular employment of a truant officer, and the holding annually of appropriate commencement exercises.
The report of the school committee for the year 1916 showed a total of over twenty-two hundred children between the ages of four and sixteen in the town. The superintendent of schools in 1917 is Frank E. Fisk.
In addition to the public schools, Winsted has a parochial school which is maintained by St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church without expense to the borough. This school is located north of the church on Oak Street, and is under the direction of the pastor. Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis act as teachers. Upwards of four hundred children attend this school regularly.
The Gilbert School,-the high school of Winsted,-stands at the east end of Main Street, facing the park.
The school was founded in 1895 by the bequest of the late William L. Gilbert, who for many years was one of the town's leading business men. Although the school is a private institution, supported entirely from its own endowment, it is entirely free to the youth of Winchester, the endowment left by Mr. Gilbert being fully ample to enable the trustees to maintain a free school of the very highest character.
Sixteen trustees, holding office for life, manage the school, and though but a few of the original trustees survive at this time, the permanence of the body and the slow changes in the personnel of the trustees have made possible a continuance of the wise policy, adopted at the beginning, of conducting a school which should be first of all an academic rather than a technical institution. While the voca- tional needs of the students are provided for in the commercial and art mantial departments and more adequately met by the course in domestic science, the school's first aim is, as it has always been, to furnish its students with the means of a liberal education. The academic department prepares for college and for general usefulness in and enjoyment of the intellectual life, while the technical courses fit students definitely and adequately for the business of the work-a-day world.
Reviewing the life of the school from the time of its organization to the present will recall to mind the men who have been influential, as trustees, in its development. Mr. Gilbert named as trustees and corporators: Isaac B. Wood- ruff, Lyman R. Norton, Charles B. Hallett, Judge Augustus H. Fenn, David Strong, Rufus E. Holmes, Eugene Potter, Harvey L. Roberts, George B. Owen, Charles J. York, Joseph H. Norton, William L. Camp, Winfield J. Garvin, Henry Gay, Dr. Harvey B. Steele, Theophilus Baird.
Very substantial buildings of pressed buff brick with marble trimmings have been erected, the same architecture displayed in the original main structure having been followed in the annex erected twelve years later.
Among the first duties devolving upon the trustees, after the school building was erected was the selection of a principal, and after a careful study of men and institutions, Dr. John E. Clarke was chosen. To Doctor Clarke's devotion and faithful service the school in a large measure owes its enviable reputation. He retired in 1908 after serving the school as its principal for thirteen years, and was succeeded by the present principal, Walter D. Hood, who is a graduate of Yale and was superintendent of schools in Shelton and Stratford. The present
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officers and directors of the Gilbert School are: President, C. J. York; vice president, E. B. Gaylord; secretary and treasurer, H. L. Roberts; directors, Eugene Potter, Wilbur G. Manchester, Lester C. Strong, Seymour W. Alvord, L. M. Blake, J. G. Woodruff, L. W. Tiffany, Dr, W. S. Hulbert, L. C. Colt, Dr. Edward L. Pratt, A. L. Clark, Fred C. Strong, Dudley C. Vaill.
THIE WILLIAM L. GILBERT HOME
The bronze tablet at the main entrance to the Gilbert home reads as follows : "This building was erected by William L. Gilbert, long a resident of Winchester, for the improvement of mankind by affording such assistance and means of edu- cating the young as will help them become good citizens. A. D. 1888." Thus, together with Mr. Gilbert's bequest, was made possible an institution which is doing a work that few, even in Winsted, fully appreciate. The home accommo- dates 250 children and it is necessary to turn away many applicants in order to keep to this number. Preference is given to those children whose guardians will have difficulty in meeting the cost of similar care and instruction elsewhere. It is a home where children who are deprived of the advantages of family life are cared for and educated at a charge much below the actual cost. A good idea of the class of children cared for may be given by quoting from a leaflet issued by the home :
"Children described as follows will not be admitted: I. Those under four years of age. 2. Those over four years of age who can not talk well enough to communicate their physical ills and needs. 3. Those unable to dress themselves with a reasonable amount of assistance. 4. Cripples. 5. Those who are defective mentally. 6. Those who are afflicted with contagious, infectious or incurable diseases. The charge for board, clothing and schooling is $1.50 per week for each child. Any variation from this charge will be based upon a personal inves- tigation of the circumstances of the applicant. In cases where there are sufficient means for the child's support, but the essential thing lacking is home care, the charge may be from $1.50 per week up to the actual cost. It is not the purpose of the institution to charge a price below cost for those whose parents, guardians or friends are financially able to meet their obligations. This would deprive us of the means to extend charity to needy and worthy cases. Parents or friends may visit children at any time, but are requested to avoid calling during school hours, if possible."
It will be seen that the institution is not in any sense correctional. In the admission of children, no distinction is made as to race, religion or nationality. The only children turned away when there are vacancies are those whose previous records are such as to make it probable that their influence on the boys and girls already in the home would be bad.
The endowment which enables the good work to go on was given by Mr. Gilbert in trust to the following men, and passed into their possession upon his death twenty years ago: Henry Gay, Isaac B. Woodruff, Harvey B. Steele, Lyman R. Norton, Eugene Potter, Harvey L. Roberts, George B. Owen, Charles J. York, Joseph H. Norton, William L. Camp, T. Baird and W. J. Garvin. These men did not assume active control until Mr. Gilbert's death in 1891. On March 21, 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight S. Case took charge of the home under the direc- tion of Mr. Gilbert and on April Ist of the same year the home was opened. At first the number of children was comparatively small. The school building was built in 1894, and in 1900 the number of children had so increased that more room was necessary and the east building was constructed.
THE WILLIAM L. GILBERT HOME FOR CHILDREN, WINSTED
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On December 1, 1909, Mr. and Mrs. Case, after over twenty years of service, found it necessary to lay down the work because of Mrs. Case's failing health. Under their guidance the home had grown from a sheltering place of 21 children on the day that it opened to one for 250. The home had also been im- proved and beautified until it is now one of the beauty spots of Winsted.
On the day that Mr. and Mrs. Case laid down the work of the home, Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Morse came to Winsted to take up the work. Mr. and Mrs. Morse are both graduates of the state normal school at Cortland, N. Y., and Mr. Morse is a graduate of Yale.
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