NEWS + STORIES
Shad Derby: A Treasured Tradition
No, it’s not just about a hat; no, it’s not about a soap box derby. It’s about a fish! It all started in 1955 when the director of the Windsor Rod and Gun Club became concerned with the polluting of the Connecticut River. To draw attention to the river’s condition and the resources it had to offer, the club organized a one-day fishing tournament.
And the Band Played On!
Seventy-six trombones led the big parade. Well, perhaps not quite seventy-six, but Windsor’s first band, formed in 1859, boasted of at least two. One hundred years of Windsor band tradition began on August 13, 1859, at the home of Timothy Phelps.
Combustion Engineering: A Windsor Landmark
Combustion Engineering began construction of the first corporate campus in Windsor’s new business district on Day Hill Road in 1955 and employed thousands of workers in their nuclear and fossil fuel divisions over the next half-century.
Deacon John Moore, Community Craftsman
Deacon John Moore was at the center of a nexus of important woodworking families that extended through four generations to include the Drakes, Bissells, Loomises, Barbers, Griswolds, Stoughtons and others. Together, these families largely controlled the woodworking trade in the region until the middle of the eighteenth century.
Familiar Faces, Familiar Spaces: Composing Home for World War II Soldiers
On August 8, 1943, while the cover page of The Hartford Courant was crowded with stories of military maneuvers, diplomatic endeavors, and calls for action, a narrow column in the paper’s interior reported "Editor Seeks Correct Addresses of Men and Women in Armed Forces for Mailing Use." The editor was Jerry Hallas, publisher of Windsor News Letter for Men and Women in the Service.
Strong-Howard House Archaeology
In 2012, State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni and the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology (FOSA) performed an archaeological survey inside the Strong-Howard House, focusing on Captain Howard’s store. It is a 9'x12' room that was added on to the original house around 1800.