The above was quoted from the December 1995 issue of Life Magazine, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of his first day in office as a United States Representative. We know Mr. Rainey as a summer resident of Windsor who lived at 299 Palisado Avenue.
The area in Poquonock just north of the bridge over the Farmington River was for decades a commercial center of the neighborhood. Starting in the mid-19th century, the businesses here served the growing immigrant populations [...]
When you visit the reinterpreted rooms of the Strong-Howard House, you will feel as if you had stepped into the Howards’ home. Not only will you have the opportunity to touch everything, snooping is encouraged. Want to try out the bed? Feel free. Want to look under the tablecloth? Go right ahead. But you might wonder about an item – why is this here?
Amy Archer-Gilligan, a diminutive widow with a teenaged daughter, ran a home for elderly people in town and was a regular church-goer. To many, it seemed inconceivable that she could be guilty of the charge of which she was accused. To others, the murder charge was the tip of an iceberg of crimes waiting to be uncovered.
"Aha!" moments occur in research when a combination of luck and hard work causes fragments of information to fall into place, answering one or a series of questions. One such moment led to the identification of the photographer of several hundred historic photographs in the Society's collections.
What would it be like to come to this town after a harrowing ocean voyage and adjust to a new climate, new foods, new working conditions, and racial prejudice, as well? Fay Clarke Johnson tells the story of Jamaicans who left their lovely, temperate island to find work in the Connecticut River Valley during WWII in her 1995 book Soldiers of the Soil.
In this column, we are featuring one of the invaluable volunteers who supplement and complement the work of our paid staff in so many ways. It is a privilege and honor to work together to [...]
Across the road from the Strong-Howard House stands the First Church of Windsor. Looking back on the church’s history, there was a peculiar practice called “seating the meetinghouse” whereby all the parishioners were assigned their seats according to their wealth, position in the community, age, sex, etc.
The Windsor High School yearbook has been called Tunxis since its inception in 1914. In the early years, the Tunxis yearbook was published twice yearly with a winter and spring/summer issue. The Society's library contains a nearly complete collection of Windsor High School yearbooks available for all to browse.
Most people know that there were once two ferries in Windsor: the Rivulet Ferry on the Farmington River and the Bissell Ferry across the Connecticut River. However, there was also another, almost unknown, ferry operating here in the 18th century. It was called the Wolcott Ferry.