Sharing Stories in Windsor Neighborhoods - Poquonock and Rainbow Windsor Historical Society turns 100 this fall and hopes to mark this with milestone a celebration of the whole Windsor community. “We really want this to [...]
Sharing Stories in Windsor Neighborhoods - Poquonock and Rainbow Windsor Historical Society turns 100 this fall and hopes to mark this with milestone a celebration of the whole Windsor community. “We really want this [...]
On October 3, 1979, a devastating tornado hit the village of Poquonock in Windsor at 3 PM. Three people were killed, 143 hospitalized and 350 others were treated in emergency rooms. Sue Banks was one of the Poquonock residents at home with her children that afternoon. These are her memories from that day.
When we receive donations for our museum and archives collections, one of the first tasks we undertake is to determine the importance of the objects and figure out if and how they fit into the history of our town. While that is simple enough to say, the process can be painstaking, alternating between fulfilling and frustrating, but always fascinating.
October 3, 1979. Jimmy Carter was president. Ella Grasso was governor. Albert Ilg was Windsor’s town manager and Warren P. Johnson was mayor. It was a time before cell phones and the internet. Shortly after [...]
Probate inventory of Thomas Holcombe, showing he owned joinery and husbandry tools at the time of his death in 1657. | From Ancestry.com History loves a bad boy, mostly because folks who are [...]
In 1972 the Society received a donation of a day book from a Mrs. Arthur Golding. There was no indication inside the book as to owner of the business or its location, so for cataloging purposes, staff at the time had titled it "1826-1830 Account Book for General Store in Poquonock." Such a vague yet intriguing title has led more recent staff to wonder about its origins.
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 [...]
Everyone pretends to be a wee bit Irish on March 17, but Windsor has a stronger connection to the Emerald Isle than one day of shamrocks and green attire. In fact, Irish immigrants flocked to Windsor during the 19th century looking for work and a safe place to raise their families. Twenty percent of Windsor’s population was first or second-generation Irish by 1860.
Carrie Phelps Marshall Kendrick (1883-1963) was regarded as one of Poquonock's history keepers. Born on lands that had been farmed by her family for eight generations, I wondered what drew Carrie to Georgia where she married her husband Alexis Dawson Kendrick (1873-1931) in 1904 and began family life.