The American Thermos Bottle Company was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 07/17/1989. It located at 11 Thermos Avenue in Laurel Hill section of Norwich.
The following is an excerpt from Info Source 1:
“Once upon a time, life was more difficult before the invention of the thumbtack, the paper clip, Scotch Tape and the Thermos bottle. It is little things that make living endurable. Many of the little things we use every day are taken as a matter of fact.
The Thermos Bottle is one of those inventions, and Norwich had a major hand in its production.There was a time the Thermos Bottle Co. of Norwich was known worldwide. The contract between Norwich and Thermos demanded that whenever the word Thermos was used in an ad, it would include the name Norwich, Connecticut.
Thermos was, for so many years, a major industry in Norwich. Thermos settled here because of the ideal location on the Thames River and two railroads. They didn’t just pick the site; the City of Norwich went after them. Our local department of public utilities played a major hand, because they had the lowest electric rates in the state.”
“The site of the Thermos plant in Norwich had, for years, been the residence of Dr. William H. Mason. The town purchased the house and 27 acres for $750 an acre. The land was purchased an acre at a time by local citizens, and the City Hall bell would sound 10 times every time someone contributed $750.
Behind the campaign to bring Thermos to Norwich from Brooklyn, N.Y., was a group of 100 leading citizens know as the “Norwich Boomers.” They all had “Boomer badges” and sold them to everyone they met for $1 a piece. Attracting Thermos to Norwich was like a community celebration. There was a big city-wide ball that raised $2,000, and an auction at the ball raised another $544. In total, the people of the City of Norwich raised approximately $78,000.
In Feb. 14, 1912, an agreement was signed to make Norwich the home of the Thermos Bottle.”
The operation was shutdown in 1988.
“Thermos Was A Major Norwich Industry”, by Bill Stanley
United States Park Service
1stdlibs.com
The Bean Hill Historic District is a well preserved group of twenty-three 18th and 19th century buildings focused on an ancient green near the Yantic River at Norwich’s western boundary.
In the 18th century Bean Hill was a manufacturing, commercial, and residential center. The enterprises there included a grist mill, a saw mill and at least one medium-sized textile mill. It was home to artisans, tavern keepers, and some workers in the local mill.
Info Source 1 provides a more complete list of Bean Hill historic places.
There are several popular legends as to how Bean Hill got its name. The following is an excerpt from Info Source 2:
“The origin of the savory old name, Bean Hill, is thoroughly affirmed, I think, by several histories of the settlement of New England, which assert that those who first visited this region were prospectors under an invitation from Uncas. They struck upon this cozy little patch of table land having its rear a rolling meadow in its warm southern front divided by a beautiful fish-stocked river, beyond which lay another strip of tableland skirted by a romantic range of highlands, the Wawecus Hills.
The weary and hungry prospectors, being favorably impressed with the locality, halted, and casting about for greatly needed food, they discovered pots of beans deposited in the earth. Considering them an equivalent to the manna sent to the Israelites, they joyfully appropriated them, and for the time being acknowledged with thanksgiving the providential meal, since which time, and most appropriately, too, not only upon and around this original Puritan bean mount, but wherever the foot of her descendants press the soil, the savory rye and Indian bread and dish of baked beans continues to be the Saturday night and seventh-day meal.”
Bean Hillers were strong advocates for both religious and political freedom in 1700’s and 1800’s. Dissenters from the Congregational Church met at Bean Hill in 1745 and the first Episcopal services in Norwich were held here in 1738. Early Methodists also worshipped here. Many political speeches and public gatherings were held under a large elm tree on the green.
Notables Bean Hillers include:
Excerpt from Info Source 3: “At Bean Hill was one of the first potteries in this country. They manufactured a yellow brown salt-glazed earthenware, of which there are a very few specimens in existence. This salt-glaze was discovered about 1680 by a servant who lived on the farm of a Mr. Yale. There was an earthen vessel on the fire with brine in it to cure pork. While the servant was away the brine boiled over, the pot became red hot, and the sides were found to be glazed. A potter utilized the discovery and the salt-glaze became an established fact.”
The Bean Hill Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
United States Park Service
“Reminiscences of Bean Hill”, (1896), page 295, by Burrell W. Hyde
“Norwich : Early Homes and History”, A Paper Written and Delivered by Sarah Lester Tyler”, page 19, Published by Faith Trumbull Chapter, D.A.R., Norwich, CT 1906
“Reminiscences of Bean Hill”, (1896), page 448, by Burrell W. Hyde
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Bean Hill” in the SEARCH box.
The Bradford-Huntington house, located at 16 Huntington Lane, lies in the northern section of the Norwichtown Historic District. It was occupied by Simon Huntington and later by Major General Jabez Huntington. Simon Huntington’s father, Deacon Simon Huntington, was a founding father of Norwich, and, Jabez Huntington knew George Washington. His son, Jedediah Huntington, was a Revolutionary War general, and worked closely with George Washington on several occasions. In 1776 George Washington spent the night in the Bradford-Huntington house, and there is evidence that Marquis de Lafayette also visited General Huntington during the Revolutionary War period.
Major General Jabez Huntington owned a large number of vessels engaged in the West Indian trade. He represented Norwich in the General Assembly, served on the Committee of Safety and in 1776 was appointed one of the two Major Generals of the Connecticut militia.
The first portion of the house was built by John Bradford’s son, Thomas, circa 1660. Later portions of the house were added by Simon Huntington Jr. between 1691 and 1719. A third stage of additions was added in the 1740 time frame.
The Bradford-Huntington house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
United States Park Service
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, (1895), (pp 282-28, by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
Constance Luyster, 1970
The Broad Street School, located in the Chelsea Parade Historic District at 100 Broad Street, was built in 1897. It is a yellow-brick, two-story structure built in the Romanesque Revival style. It is significant because it reflects the historical development of Norwich, a thriving mercantile and industrial center in the 19th century, and because it exemplifies turn-of-the-century educational philosophy. The school was the largest and most ornate school built by the Norwich Central School District in a major rebuilding program in the 1890s. It attracted enough attention to be included as one of the up-to-date school buildings featured in a special section of the State Board of Education’s Annual Report of 1902.
The Broad Street School is architecturally significant as a richly decorated example of the Romanesque Revival style, designed by a noted school architect, Wilson Potter, of New York City. Meticulous attention to detail and the use of quality materials is exhibited throughout.
The Norwich Central School District commissioned the architect Wilson Potter to design its new elementary school. Potter made a specialty of school architecture and his works include New York City’s Fulton High School, Bristol (Connecticut) High School, and another Norwich school in Laurel Hill.
The mere fact that a renowned architect was hired to design Broad Street School indicates the character of the neighborhood in which it was located. Broad Street and Washington Avenue area was inhabited by Norwich’s social and economic elite.
Norwich was an important port city, strategically located on the Thames River, and an industrial center in eastern Connecticut throughout the 19th century. The affluent citizens of the Broad Street School district wanted a handsome school which would reflect the progressive and proper image of the community which it served, and thus the school board hired a notable architect. As a point of comparison, the Laurel Hill School, also designed by Wilson Potter, is nearly identical in form but lacks most of the ornamentation found in Broad Street School.
The Broad Street School closed in the late 1970s, and has been converted to residential use. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
United States Park Service
Realtor.com
The Captain Richard Charlton House at 12 Mediterranean Lane is one of many houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places located in the Norwichtown Historic District. The original house was probably built as a seaman’s hideaway for Captain Richard Charlton.
According to family records, Richard Charlton was born in England circa 1715 and moved to Norwich before 1741. He married Sarah Grist (1722-1808) in 1742. They had 7 children. First child, also named Sarah was born in the 1742-1743 time-frame. Their last child was Samuel, born in 1756.
In 1755 Richard sold the western part of his house-lot and one of his shops to Simeon Carew. The next year he created a will that was prefaced by : “being bound to a voige to sea.” Most likely he had been conscripted to fight for Britain in the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754-1763. He died the next year 1757. It was written in his family’s Bible that, “he was blown up in a vessel at the rejoicings at the capture of Havana in 1757”.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970
United States Park Service
“Old Houses of the Ancient Town of Norwich, 1600-1800”, (1895), (pp 168, 251,252 440), by Mary Elizabeth Perkins
Jack E. Boucher
Library of Congress