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The Town of Glastonbury
As early as the mid 1600's,
a handful of Wethersfield
residents worked the land
"east of the river." In
1690, they petitioned the
General Court to become a
separate entity. By 1693,
those determined people
convinced Reverend Timothy
Stevens to serve as their
minister and built their
meeting house as part of the
requirements of the
Connecticut General Court
for township. Glassenbury
thrived and the town began
to take shape.
Today, we're familiar with
East and South Glastonbury,
maybe even Buckingham and
Bucks Corner. But what about
Curtisville? Shingle Hollow?
Walker's Corner? Taylor
Town? These neighborhoods,
and over two dozen others,
were the heart and soul of
the town and still exist in
our vocabulary today. Each
played a role in the
development of the town and
each helps personify our
"community" spirit.
"Glistening Town" from the
Anglo-Saxon ties us directly
to Glastonbury in Somerset,
England. The spelling of our
town varied until the
mid-1800's when it was
decided to conform to the
"proper" English spelling.
The thorn on our town seal
is a replication of the
Somerset thorn, which
visually links us to our
European past.
Over two dozen sites in town
tell tremendous and often
scintillating tales of
Glastonbury's past. We still
boast the oldest
continuously operating ferry
in the country. The Cotton
Hollow Powder Mill gives us
a chilling description of
the revolutionary war era.
The Welles Chapman Tavern
was the stop-over from
Hartford to New London.
Stone from the town's quarry
built the Wadsworth Atheneum.
The Hollister parcel is
thought to be an ancient
Native American burial
ground. The William Welles
residence housed and
educated some of Yale
University's students during
the revolutionary war while
British warships plied New
Haven Harbor.
Time
Line
year
|
event |
|
1614 |
Adriaen Block sails
up Quinnihticut
River |
|
1631 |
Wahquinaucus and
Jack Straw try to
entice John Winthrop
of Massachusetts Bay
Colony to come to
Pyaug/Nayaug |
|
1633 |
John
Oldham settles in
Pyaug |
|
1635 |
Thomas Hooker comes |
|
1636 |
30
families in Pyaug:
tract of land on
river in Glastonbury
purchased from
Sowheag for 12 yard
of trading cloth |
|
1639/40 |
First
house: cow herder’s
cellar hole,
employee of Matthew
Mitchell of
Wethersfield
|
|
1639 |
Survey show 34
strips of land each
going 3 miles into
wilderness: “Naubuc
Farms” (First survey
in CT) |
|
1653 |
General Court gives
Glastonbury
recognition separate
from Wethersfield
with permission to
drill for military
defense |
|
1667 |
First
sawmill |
|
1670 |
Main
Street laid out
along Indians’ “Long
Path”; called
“Country Road” |
|
1672 |
General Court grants
permission to
Wethersfield and
Hartford to extended
their boundaries 5
miles to the East |
|
1675 |
War
between Nayaugs and
Pequots:
Red
Hill Indians many
centuries before
Christ: Nayaugs,
Naubucs, Wongunks |
|
1684 |
Second survey |
|
1684 |
Boundary dispute:
Glastonbury looses
85 ˝ rods to East
Hartford |
|
1689 |
Glastonbury
petitions
Wethersfield to be a
separate township |
|
1690 |
Permission granted
from Wethersfield to
be a separate
township |
|
1690 |
First
Town Meeting |
|
1692 |
Rev.
Timothy Stevens
appointed pastor of
the First Society |
|
1692 |
Town
named Glassenbury |
|
1693 |
40
ft. home built for
Rev. Stevens corner
of Main Street and
Morgan Road |
|
1693 |
First
Meeting House on
Green |
|
1694 |
Eleazer Kimberly
first delegate to
General Court |
|
1700 |
First
shipyard: Naubuc
Ship Yard |
|
1703 |
Fine
of 1 shilling levied
against disorderly
conduct; ˝ goes to
complainer, ˝ to
help poor of town |
|
1711 |
First
School House
completed; Robbard
Poole hired as
schoolmaster |
|
1731 |
Eastbury established |
|
1731 |
School assessment
for all children 6
to 12 years of age
whether attending
school or no is
often paid in wood
for schoolhouse
stoves |
|
1734 |
Meeting House burns
and is rebuilt on
west side of Main
Street |
|
1740 |
Yellow fever wipes
out men of Eastbury |
|
1747 |
Portion of Eastbury
become Marlborough |
|
1750 |
Thomas Welles
Shipyard at Log
Landing |
|
1755 |
Wells
Shipman Ward House
built |
|
1760 |
The
Great Gristmill of
Nayaug with oven and
bakeshop erected |
|
1765 |
Last
acreage of Wongunk/Nayaugs
(in Portland) broken
into building lots
and sold. The
Indian population
had dwindled to 12
or 13. |
|
1767
|
Townshend Acts |
|
1769 |
Elisha Treat’s
“Lineet” (linseed)
oil mill in
operation |
|
1770 |
Meeting at New Haven
to discuss
non-importation |
|
1774 |
Portland applies to
be reimbursed 70
pounds for care when
last of Indians dies |
|
1776 |
Declaration of
Independence |
|
1776 |
Dr.
Asaph Coleman
organizes small
hospital between
Knob Hill and Apple
Hill, works with
small pox
inoculations;
hospital includes
“pest house” for
worst small pox
cases |
|
1777 |
Stocking powder
factory explodes
Yale
holds classes in
Glastonbury homes
(including Welles
house) |
|
1780 |
Talcott Camp and Co.
Forge in operation |
|
1780 |
Glastonbury frees
its slaves (over the
decade) |
|
1785 |
Wells
Tavern built by
Joseph Welles |
|
1786 |
Spelling appears as
Glastenbury |
|
1787 |
Tornado kills woman
and her son in Rocky
Hill; her wedding
dress is blown to
barn roof of her
sister who lives in
Glastonbury |
|
1789 |
Bids
for care of poor
solicited by Town
Selectman; selectman
have charge of care
of poor (see 1703) |
|
1791 |
At
least 7 sawmills in
operation to feed
shipping industry |
|
1792 |
Joseph Welles
receives his first
tavern license and
is licensed by the
Hartford New London
Stage Coach Company
as a stage coach
stop |
|
1793 |
Methodist circuit
preacher in Eastbury |
|
1795 |
Public School
governed by
churches:
1.
Mr.
Alger’s (Hopewell)
2.
Mr.
Taylor’s South Part
3.
Mr.
Woodbridge’s South
Village
4.
Mr.
Gideon Hale’s
(Center – Hale House
5.
Mr.
Griswold’s (Green)
6.
Mr.
Welles’ (No.
Glastonbury at
current center)
7.
Mr.
Smith’s (Pratt’s
Ferry) |
|
1796 |
Methodist Parish
organized |
|
1798 |
Academy on the Green
between Welles
Shipman Ward house
and Hopewell Street
is best high school
in Hartford Area |
|
1800 |
John
W. Purtill Papermill
in Wassuc near Smut
(late 1800’s); he
moves to old
Hartford Mfg.
Building @ Cotton
Hollow |
|
1801 |
Oswen
Welles wooden ware
shop in operation |
|
1803 |
Dr.
Asaph Coleman et.
al. library that is
short lived because
of lack of books |
|
1806 |
Tavern is first
official Post
Office; Joseph
Welles is Post
Master |
|
1806 |
Episcopal Society
formed |
|
1808 |
Nayaug school
district added |
|
1810 |
Methodist church in
Eastbury; Rev.
Jeremiah Stocking
pastor – he also
carries Connecticut
Courant and mail as
far as Saybrook from
1799 – 1824 |
|
1813 |
Episcopal church
built |
|
1814 |
Hartford
Manufacturing Co.
built at Cotton
Hollow |
|
1814 |
Cotton mill in South
Glastonbury |
|
1816 |
Glastenbury Glass
factory in operation |
|
1818 |
Legal
separation of church
and state |
|
1819 |
New
Eastbury
Congregational
Church |
|
1820 |
Blome’s Cigar Mfg.
And Tobacco Pkg. in
operation |
|
1822 |
Samuel Welles
organizes Eagle Mfg.
Ct. to produce
woolen goods |
|
1828 |
Methodist Church on
High Street built
(current So.
Glastonbury Library) |
|
1835 |
Wells
Tavern bought by
Azel Chapman |
|
1836 |
Second meeting house
is demolished and
rebuilt on present
site of First
Congregational
Church |
|
1836 |
Azial
Goslee’s Hoe and
Farm Implement
Factory in operation |
|
1836 |
South
Congregational
Church built |
|
1837 |
First
Congregational
Church built |
|
1837 |
Joseph Wright et.
al. Establish
library that last
three years |
|
1839 |
Glastonbury votes to
construct Town House
(town hall) at
corner of Main and
Hubbard Streets |
|
1840 |
James
B. Williams has
drugstore in
Manchester,
experiment with
shaving soap. He
and his brother take
over Hubbard’s Grist
Mill |
|
1840 |
Connecticut frees
its slaves |
|
1840 |
Irish
immigrants to escape
potato famine |
|
1845 |
Charcoal is
Glastonbury’s sixth
largest industry |
|
1845 |
Glastonbury Seminary
burns |
|
1846 |
Blome’s Cigar Mfg.
And Tobacco Pkg
acquired by
Frederick Curtis of
Curtisville German
Silver |
|
1848 |
Eagle
Mfg. Fails |
|
1850 |
Strong anti-slavery
sentiments in town |
|
1850 |
German immigrants
establish St. Mark’s
Lutheran Church |
|
1854 |
School tax mandatory |
|
1855
|
Eagle
building bought by
Glastenbury Knitting
Mills |
|
1856 |
18
autonomous school
districts (until
1906)
|
|
1857 |
St.
James Episcopal
organized |
|
1859 |
Cornerstone for St.
James laid |
|
1861 |
Gideon Welles serves
as Secretary of the
Navy under two
administrations
through 1869 |
|
1861 |
Confederate troops
fire on Fort Sumter |
|
1862 |
Eastbury
Congregational
becomes renames
itself East
Glastonbury
Congregational |
|
1862 |
So.
Glastonbury Academy
School is high
school until 1884 |
|
1865 |
Mandatory months of
school operation
increased from 4
mos./year to 6
mos./year |
|
1865 |
Roaring Brook Paper
Company established |
|
1865 |
Peace
at Appomatox Court
House |
|
1866 |
First
Congregational
Church burned and
rebuilt |
|
1866 |
Larger Eastbury
Congregational
Church built next to
first |
|
1866 |
John
and George Hale
begin fruit business
with strawberries |
|
1868 |
Railroad bridge
spans Connecticut
River at Middletown |
|
1870 |
Spelling officially
changed to
Glastonbury |
|
1870 |
Geo.
S. Andrews feldspar
mine and mill’
builds Old Maids’
Lane to get ground
feldspar to river
for transport |
|
1873 |
Eastbury
Congregational
renames itself 1938 |
|
1873 |
Smith
Sisters, Julia (77)
and Abby (72) stand
up against
Glastonbury taxation
of widows and single
women; petition that
women be exempt form
taxes until they are
able to vote |
|
1876 |
Last
Glastonbury built
ship completed |
|
1876 |
Case
Brothers’ paper mill
on Salmon Brook |
|
1878 |
St.
Augustine’s church
established in South
Glastonbury |
|
1880 |
Laying of trolley
tracks brings
immigrants to lay
them – Italians who
take over orchard
industry after
tracks are complete |
|
1881 |
Town
Records Building
constructed |
|
1883 |
First
telephone |
|
1884 |
P.H.
Goodrich opens
Riverside Mfg. |
|
1884 |
The
Weekly Gazette
published in East
Hartford, delivered
to Glastonbury |
|
1886 |
Herman Roser buys
Isaac Broadheat
plant and set up
tannery |
|
1888 |
Blizzard – 3 ˝ feet
of snow, 10 foot
drifts |
|
1890 |
Weekly news paper,
The
Glastonbury Bulletin |
|
1892 |
Electric trolley
goes from East
Hartford to Hubbard
Brook |
|
1895 |
Town
buys Still Hill
Boarding Home for
use as Town Farm to
replace prior poor
houses |
|
1895 |
First
public library |
|
1900 |
First
water main on Main
Street |
|
1902 |
Glastonbury votes to
establish high
school, closes Free
Academy |
|
1902 |
Charles Raze Gager
dies of broken neck
from football
accident; football
banned from GHS |
|
1902 |
St.
Paul’s established |
|
1903 |
First
car |
|
1904 |
St.
James destroyed by
fire; only tower
remains |
|
1907 |
Frank
H. Harriman’s
airplane |
|
1909 |
Consolidation of
schools begins |
|
1913 |
East
Haddam Electric
Light Co. provides
power for
Glastonbury to have
street lights on
Main Street |
|
1914 |
Examinations
required to obtain
driver’s license |
|
1914 |
Polish National
Alliance established |
|
1914 |
Glazier Mfg.
produces overcoats
for British,
Belgian, and Italian
governments |
|
1917 |
U.S.
enters World War I –
Glastonbury forms
“Home Guard |
|
1917 |
Glazier Mfg.
produces 200,000
yards melton for
U.S. and French
Troops,
Glastonbury Knitting
Mills : 400,000
undergarments for
U.S. soldiers
Williams Bros. Makes
forceps, etc
Roser’s Tannery
produces leather for
shoes, watchstraps,
etc. |
|
1917 |
Formation of Women’s
Committee of
Glastonbury Council
of Defense |
|
1917 |
Influenza epidemic;
formation of
Glastonbury VNA |
|
1917 |
Formation of
Glastonbury Council
of Defense |
|
1917 |
First
motorized school bus |
|
1920 |
Mill
@ Cotton Hollow
burns |
|
1920 |
Volunteer fire
companies organized |
|
1920 |
Consolidated Cigar
Corporation comes to
Glastonbury |
|
1922 |
GHS
built – the current
Academy School
building |
|
1923 |
Agricultural Ed put
permanently into
curriculum with
grant from state |
|
1925 |
St.
John’s Ukranian
church established |
|
1926 |
So.
Glastonbury Library
established by
volunteers |
|
1930 |
Zoning Board formed |
|
1936 |
Historical Society
organized |
|
1936 |
WPA
funds build Post
Office on corner of
Main Street and
Hebron Avenue
(completed 19370 |
|
1936 |
Connecticut River
floods at 30 feet;
crests at 37 ˝ feet;
247 families
evacuated |
|
1937 |
Police force formed |
|
1938 |
First
Congregational
Church built
demolished by
hurricane |
|
1938 |
Buckingham
Congregational
demolished by
hurricane |
|
1938 |
Hurricane |
|
1939 |
Last
one room school
house closes |
|
1940 |
Federal Educational
and Recreation
program adds
training for Air
Raid Wardens,
Auxiliary Police and
firemen, first aid
home nursing |
|
1941 |
Home
Defense training,
Martin Roser head of
Defense Council
(formerly War
Council) |
|
1942 |
Blackouts and air
raid protection |
|
1944 |
Hometown News mimeographed and sent to all servicemen from
Glastonbury |
|
1946 |
High
Street School
expanded |
|
1947 |
Zoning Board becomes
Planning and Zoning |
|
1947 |
Naubuc School
expanded |
|
1948 |
The
Glastonbury Bulletin
re-established |
|
1948 |
Eastbury School
built |
|
1948 |
Henry
Saglio awarded
highest rating of
nation’s purebred
entries in A&P’s
“Chicken of
Tomorrow” contest;
brothers John and
Charles join to form
Arbor Acres |
|
1950 |
The
Glastonbury Citizen
established |
|
1952 |
Junior/Senior High
School built on
Hubbard Street |
|
1952 |
Welles-Turner
Library opens |
|
1954
|
Police Auxiliary
Ambulance Assoc.
established |
|
1955 |
Buttonball School
opens
Funds
appropriated to
expand jr./sr. high |
|
1957 |
J.B.
Williams sold |
|
1958 |
Glastonbury changes
form Town
Meeting/Selectman
form of government
to Council/Manager
government (approx.
year) |
|
1959 |
Kindergarten
established
Federally funded
program to teach
modern foreign
languages
established |
|
1960 |
Glastonbury Free
Academy building demolished |
|
1960 |
Glastonbury leases
old Town Hall to
Historical Society |
|
1960 |
East
Glastonbury Library
established by
volunteers |
|
1960 |
J.B.
Williams moves to
New Jersey |
|
1960 |
Heritage committee
forms historic
district (over
decade) |
|
1961 |
Conservation
Commission
established |
|
1964 |
Welles-Turner
Library expanded |
|
1965 |
So.
Congregational
Church turned and
enlarged |
|
1965 |
Roser’s Tannery sold |
|
1966 |
Football returns to
GHS |
|
1969 |
Roser’s Tannery
closes |
|
1969 |
Flannagan Bros. Buys
tannery building |
|
1970 |
Glastonbury
Toiletries formed by
former employees of
J.B. Wms. |
|
1970 |
Land
use plan to 1986
completed |
|
1970 |
Crime
prevention unit
formed |
|
1970 |
Modern,
multi-function fire
house replaces old
school/firehouse on
corner of Main and
Pratt Streets –
competed 1972 |
|
1971 |
Redevelopment begins |
|
1972 |
911
instituted,
volunteer rescue
squad organized |
|
1974 |
St.
Dunstan’s
established |
|
1981 |
Academy School A
building becomes
town offices, Town
Office building
becomes police
department |
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