The Norwich State Hospital, originally established as Norwich State Hospital for the Insane and later shortened to Norwich Hospital, was a psychiatric hospital. It opened its doors in October 1904 and it remained operational until October 1996. Throughout its years of operation, it housed geriatric patients, chemically dependent patients and, from 1931 to 1939, tubercular patients.
The Norwich Hospital District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The history of the Norwich Hospital District is well documented. It is said that several of the buildings are now haunted by the spirits of past residents. Several references are listed below. Info Source 3, by Alchetron is especially informative.
“Secrets of the Asylum: Norwich State Hospital ” by Julianne Mangin, is a heart-felt story that illustrates how patient treatment at this facility created severe inter-generational trauma. The author has pieced together a family story that reads like a Dickens novel.
SubStreet – “Norwich State Hospital for the Insane”
DamnedCT
Alchetron
Bob Dees
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Hospital” in the SEARCH box.
Today the Norwich Town Hall is the seat of the municipal government in Norwich. It is located at Union Street and Broadway, prominently overlooking the city’s central business district. Built in 1870-1873, when Norwich was still a town (town and the city were consolidated in 1952). Architecturally it is a prominent example of civic Second Empire architecture. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Burdick & Arnold. Evan Burdick, who supervised the construction of the building, also designed the original Norwich Free Academy building and the Wauregan Hotel. Norwich Town Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and is also a contributing property to the Downtown Norwich Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places.
Norwich Town Hall boasts a three-story brick façade set on a cut-stone basement, and a full fourth floor tucked under the slate mansard roof. The exterior is richly decorated with Second Empire detail, including a cast-iron entry porch, stone window surrounds and bracketed eaves. The corner tower’s mansard-roofed stage is topped by a clock, a belfry, and a conical cap. The interior is embellished with elaborate wood carving and finishes.
Early in 1870 a site was selected for the multi-purpose building. The courthouse functions for New London County have traditionally been shared by courthouses in New London and in Norwich. This dual courthouse system is unique in the state. When the building was first opened in 1873 it served four governmental purposes. It housed the Town of Norwich government offices, the City of Norwich government offices, one of the two New London County courts, and the Norwich police offices were located in the basement.
Prior to the erection of the Norwich Town Hall this area of the town was residential. Its prominent location is at the junction of Union Street and Broadway facing Union Square. The hilly, rocky terrain of Norwich lends itself to the monumental quality of the Norwich Town Hall. The steep hill rising north from Union Square forms a sheer cliff northwest to the town hall site. From the hill, the ground falls either gradually or steeply away from the town hall site, making it the natural focus of attention when approaching the town from the south.
The Norwich Town Hall represented one of Norwich’s major late nineteenth century building projects. It was designed by the local architectural firm of Burdick and Arnold and built by local contractor John W. Murphy. In 1870, when construction of the town hall was begun, Norwich’s population was 16,653, up from 14,047 in 1860. Norwich was the fourth largest city in the state.
The Info Source contains many details surrounding the history and architecture of the Norwich Town Hall.
United States Park Service
PicClick.com
In 1660 the first settlement in Norwich located in the area known as Norwichtown. Most of the Norwich’s first proprietors settled along the Yantic River in this area. Although more than 350 years have passed, the pattern and features of that settlement are still clearly evident in the early structures that remain today. The district includes the Norwichtown Green, many homes in the surrounding area, establishments, a place of worship, and a cemetery.
The Norwichtown Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. This Iconic Norwich placemark highlights only a few of the 48 structures that are listed as contributors in the National Register of Historic Places nomination package. Several of the notable people who resided here during the early years of Norwichtown development are also highlighted.
(Listed in order of year built)
(Listed in order of year born)
United States Park Service
Various
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Norwichtown” in the SEARCH box.
The Occum Hydroelectric Plant & Dam is an historic hydroelectric plant and dam north of Bridge Street on the west side of the Shetucket River in Norwich. The facility includes a rare surviving partial example of a large-scale dam built for a textile mill in 1865, and an early example of a hydroelectric power generation facility established in 1934. It is one of a small number of surviving hydroelectric plants in the state which was built before 1940. The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
“On September 18, 1938, it began to rain heavily and continued until September 21st. The Shetucket River at the Occum Plant was at flood stage during these three days. At noon on the 21st, the river level began to recede and a sigh of relief seemed reasonable. Unfortunately, seven dams above the Occum plant had successively burst and the water reached Occum at 2:15 pm. The Occum Hydro Plant was abandoned at 2:30 PM, as the water overtopped the embankments. The dam later let go and the bridge below was washed out. At 5pm, the waters of nine dams came into the Quinabaug River that was already at a high stage, and this added deluge raise the Shetucket River, passing over the Greeneville Dam, flooding Norwich, located down river to the height of 5 to 8 feet. Unknown to most people on the eastern coastline, the rain and wind came with the 1938 Hurricane. The Norwich area received 17 inches of rain that day.” (Info Source 2)
The Occum Hydroelectric Plant & Dam is significant because of its association with the textile industry, the major engine of economic growth in eastern Connecticut throughout the 19th century, as an example of the period’s dam engineering, and as a late but well-preserved example of early 20th century hydroelectric technology.
Although there are other large stone dams in the state, they represent only a portion of those that existed during the height of water-powered industry. Some of the old dams have been rebuilt in concrete and many others were altogether destroyed during the high water of 1938 and 1955. While the Occum Dam has been altered from its original appearance by construction of the power plant in 1934 and by rebuilding of the eastern portion following the Hurricane of 1938, it nevertheless continues to typify the engineering skills that harnessed the water-power of eastern Connecticut and allowed the textile industry to prosper.
The dam was originally built in 1865 as part of a plan to provide water power to downstream textile mills. It was built by the Occum Company, a group of Norwich businessmen with close ties to other commercial and manufacturing enterprises in the region. This model of water-power development, in which a company built a dam and sold the power to manufacturers who located their factories along the company’s canal, was not common, but it had some notable successes in Connecticut, such as the Greeneville Dam farther downstream on the Shetucket River, the Windsor Locks Canal along the Connecticut River, and the Shelton Dam on the Housatonic River.
The principals in the Occum Company were men with broad experience in water-power and manufacturing. Lucius W. Carroll (1815-1900) was a Norwich merchant specializing in wholesale dyestuffs and other mill supplies, a position that would have brought him into contact with every major textile manufacturer in eastern Connecticut. Moses Pierce (1808- 1900) was the founder and superintendent of the city’s largest textile related firm, the Norwich Bleaching and Calendaring Company, which had built a large factory in Greeneville in 1840 on the Norwich Water Company’s power canal. Leonard Ballou (1794-1880), the company’s longtime president, was a manufacturer who retired to Norwich after selling his cotton mill. Ballou and Carroll had worked together to organize Norwich’s First National Bank that same year, with Carroll serving as President. With participants such as these, the Occum Company had the technical and financial resources needed to undertake a large-scale water-power development.
Info Source 1 contains a more comprehensive history associated with the Occum Hydroelectric Plant & Dam.
United States Park Service
Norwich Public Utilities
Ray Bourque and Norwich Public Utilities
The Perkins-Rockwell House is an historic house/museum located at 42 Rockwell Street in Norwich. It was built by Major Joseph Perkins in 1818 from stone quarried on the site. It is locally distinctive as a well-preserved stone house of the Federal period, and for its association with the locally prominent Perkins and Rockwell families. The house was home to John A. Rockwell, a prominent local lawyer who married into the Perkins family, and also served as a member of Congress.
It is a large Federal style house, built of random-cut granite, with a hip roof. A single-story porch extends across the building’s front and wraps around the left side. There is a single-story wood frame addition east of the front facade, set before a recessed original kitchen section. The interior is finished with high quality woodwork, which is mostly Federal in style. Passages between the public rooms downstairs are typically finished as keystoned arches.
Major Joseph Perkins, (1759-1832) was the first member of his family to build a house in the Chelsea section of Norwich. He was a direct descendant of the first Joseph Perkins, a wealthy farmer, deacon of the church, and physician. Major Perkins served in the Revolution, receiving his commission in the militia. After the war, as the eldest son, he followed the family tradition and practiced medicine.
He married Mary Wilkinson (1769-1840) in 1803, and they had their first child Mary Watkinson Perkins Rockwell in 1804. Mary Watkinson Perkins Rockwell (1804-1887) inherited the house after the death of her parents. In 1934 the Perkins-Rockwell House was purchased from Mary Watkinson Rockwell Cole (1873-1964) by the Faith Trumbull Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for the sum of one dollar.
The house was first presented to the chapter by Mrs. Cole, in 1934, with the words:
“And so because of our love for Norwich, the Rose of New England, which has been fostered by the loyal friendships of many generations it seemed to me that we of this generation would take pleasure in having these stone walls harbor the best traditions of New England. I take great satisfaction in thinking that this house will be used in a dignified way. That under its roof these Americans will be displayed and gatherings of public-spirited women will be held from time to time.” (Info Source 2)
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and is a contributing property in the Chelsea Parade Historic District. Today the house contains collections acquired through the years by members of the D.A.R. Faith Trumbull Chapter. The Perkins-Rockwell House and the Nathaniel Backus House are co-located and owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. They maintain and operate the buildings as a museum and have regularly scheduled tours and event
United States Park Service
Daughters of the American Revolution – Faith Trumbull Chapter
CLK Hatcher
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Perkins-Rockwell” in the SEARCH box.