Downtown New Britain

Connecticut

New Britain became an industrial powerhouse without a river to power it.

historicalengineering

Almost every mill town in Connecticut grew up along moving water. New Britain did not. It sits about ten miles southwest of Hartford with no major waterway, and it came late to industry, in the middle of the nineteenth century. What it specialized in was precision manufacturing, small and exacting work. That was enough. By the end of the century it was one of the most prosperous and most ethnically diverse cities in the state, and the downtown still shows it in the quality of the buildings. The factories started as small family operations right in the center of town, then moved out toward the railroads and the horse-drawn trolley lines. City Hall occupies what used to be the Russwin Hotel, on the north side of a triangular park where the Soldiers' Monument stands. South of there, Arch Street and Franklin Square hold apartment blocks and a run of churches, each built for a different immigrant congregation.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
Somewhat uniquely among the state's industrial cities, it is not located along a major waterway, and developed relatively late (mid-19th century) as an industrial center specialized in precision manufacturing.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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