In the Windsor Center area,  Garvan will show participants where the founders of Loomis Institute lived, talk about local sculptor Evelyn Longman Batchelder’s  Eagle Monument and what it represents, then move down to the area of Loomis Chaffee School to show the oldest home in town, and Batchelder’s studio.  In the area of what might be called Windsor’s first industrial park, you’ll learn where Spencer repeating shotguns were manufactured and about the impact of railroad and electrical lines.  Moving north, along Palisado Avenue, you’ll hear the stories behind the historic markers for the Bissell Ferry and the Old Stone Fort.   Find out more about Oliver Ellsworth, whose home is maintained as a museum by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  In the Hayden Station area, you’ll learn about the Hayden family, discover the location of Rocky Hill, learn about the founding of the Archer Memorial A.M.E Zion church by Windsor’s black community,  and hear about George Washington crossing “the Plains” right here in Windsor.

 

The historical record first mentions the village of Poquonock in 1649; by the nineteenth century, Stony Creek, now known as Phelps Brook, provided power for a paper mill, silk mill, saw mill and grist mill.  Older residents of the area remember textile mills, a paper mill, and the growing shade tobacco business drawing many immigrant groups to Poquonock.  In more recent times, the church and many homes sustained heavy damage from the tornado of 1979.  The Poquonock portion of the bus tour will cover the Old Burying Ground, the mill sites along Stony Creek, businesses in Town Center and the old Town Hall, the dams, the vehicles, and trolley bridges, and the Rainbow area.

 

Cost for the tour is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and students and $10 for Windsor Historical Society members.  Please call 688-3813 to reserve a space on the bus by June 13 th.  Receipt of your check confirms your seat.   The tour starts at Windsor Historical Society, 96 Palisado Avenue (Route 159).  Parking is available around Palisado Green and in the Windsor Discovery Center Parking lot.  

 

These events are part of an exciting year-long round of programs planned by Windsor Historical Society, the Town of Windsor, and the Windsor Chamber of Commerce.  For more information about these programs, please visit www.windsorhistoricalsociety.org or www.Windsor375.com.  Many generous sponsors and supporters have helped to make Windsor Historical Society’s events possible including:  

Presenting Sponsors: Connecticut Humanities Council; Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; Anonymous Donor

Adventurer Sponsors:  Dan J. and Alice Ford Ferraina; Travelers Connecticut Foundation; Windsor Federal Savings;      

Discoverer Sponsors: Middle Oak Specialty Insurance; Alstom Power

Founder Sponsors:  Anonymous Donor; Dill, Joyce & Thresher Insurance; ING; Jim and Kathi Martin; Rabbett Insurance Agency, Savings Bank Life Insurance;

Settler Sponsors: Alford Associates, Inc.; Bill Selig Family Foundation; Carmon Funeral Homes; Elizabeth Feser;  Griffin Land and Nurseries, Inc.; HD2 Development; Price Chopper; Rotary Club of Windsor; Stop and Shop Supermarkets; Webster Bank.  And thanks to Rainbow Bus Lines Inc. for providing the bus!