About the trail....
The Historic Mural Trail is a series of outdoor murals that were painted by a local artist using historic postcards as the images. Each mural represents an important person, place or event in the history of Windham. There are QR codes at every mural so that you can hear interesting stories and have additional resources available to you. We hope you enjoy them and get a better understanding of where our community started and how we grew.
About Windham, CT....
The town of Windham was incorporated on May 12, 1692. Mohican Sachem Chief Joshua willed the land to sixteen men, most of whom resided in Norwich. The land called Windham consisted of what is now the towns of Windham (which includes Willimantic), Mansfield, Scotland, Chaplin, and Hampton.
The town was named after Wyndham, England. On December 4, 1700, Windham's first Minister, Reverend Samuel Whiting, was ordained. The church was a Congregational Church, stemming from the Puritans. The first church building was erected shortly after on the Windham Green. Early settlers were farmers who grew crops such as wheat, rye, corn, barley, flax, and hemp, as-well-as raising livestock.
The town of Windham is made up of four parts; North Windham, Windham Center, South Windham, and Willimantic. As with many towns with abundant river water-power, mills are a very large part of the history of the town. The mills sprang up around the Willimantic River in the borough of Willimantic, while Windham remained a farming community. CLICK HERE FOR MORE HISTORY
If you are interested in more Windham history please visit these sites:
Locations & The Stories....
Main St Willimantic
37 Boston Post Rd
Willimantic, CT 06226
What downtown Willimantic looked like in the early 1900's. A grand illustration of life during that time period including shops, transportation and clothing.
Ghost Train
798 Main St
Willimantic, CT 06226
The New York and the New England Railroad ran through Willimantic in the 1890's. The nearby train station was very busy servicing the mills and brought many famous people to town.
Willimantic Footbridge
783 Main St
Willimantic, CT 06226
The only pedestrian bridge to cross over both a river and a railroad track on this side of the Mississippi. How mill workers got back and forth to work in the mills.
Gypsy Camp
866 Main St
Willimantic, CT 06226
Images of what life was like for migrant workers in the early 1900's.
Park Springs
869 Main St
Willimantic, CT 06226
How residents got their water supply before public utilities and it became a meeting place and community center.
Textile Machinery
20 North St
Willimantic, CT 06226
Samples of the amazing machinery used by the mills at their peak of operations.
This project was created in partnership with
Windham Arts and with the financial support
of the CT Office of the Arts and the CT Humanities
