Putnam, Connecticut, USA

War Memorial Bridge, Putnam, Conn.

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory, Putnam, Conn.

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Cargill Falls. Putnam, Conn.

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Fair Grounds

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

River Scene, Putnam, Conn.
museumofcthistory.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Grove Street

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Israel Putnam School

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Elm Street, 1906

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Powhatan & Putnam Mfg. Mills, 1906
museumofcthistory.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Church St. Looking North

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Main Street, Looking South, 1907

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Baptist Church, 1907

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Main Street, 1907

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Methodist Church and Parsonage, 1908

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Hammond & Knowlton, Silk Mill, 1909

"The manufacture of silk goods was introduced in Putnam by Messrs. G. A. Hammond and C. C. Knowlton, January 1st, 1875. Land and building on, the flat below the falls was procured from Mr. G. M. Morse, one of the contracting parties, and great pains taken with all the initiatory arrangements for this novel enterprise. About thirty girls were ready to begin work, attracted by the inherent fascination of silken fabrics for the feminine mind-with a sufficient number of experienced workmen to instruct and aid. With new machinery, skilled labor and unwearied pains the mill was successfully set in motion, and bales of silken filaments from Japan and China wrought into substantial sewing-silk and twist for American use. The process. though not difficult, required a nicety of touch and observation, and many applicants failed to meet these conditions, but in time all difficulties were overcome and many women and girls rejoiced in the establishment of this agreeable and remunerative industry. At the close of their first decade the Putnam Silk Mills report continued progress and prosperity. In 1885 the business had so outgrown accommodations that the old mill was rented and the works and machinery moved into a large three-story building in the same vicinity, furnishing ample room, abundant light and every convenience. About a hundred and twenty-five operatives, including ninety girls, are steadily employed. A visitor to the mills is struck by the order, neatness and apparent cheerfulness of its inmates. The process by which the slender spinnings of the silk worm are transformed into familiar silk and twist and heavy braid is a marvel of mechanical skill and ingenuity. The weekly product is sent immediately to market, through their own agent, no ” middle men ” being employed by this firm, and the experiment of silk manufacture in Putnam has proved a financial benefit to all concerned..." connecticutgenealogy.com

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

New Depot

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Elm Street, 1910

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Main Street, 1910

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Railroad Bridge, 1910

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

South Main St.

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

A Scene from Long Bridge Looking North, Showing the Eureka Silk Mfg. Co.
museumofcthistory.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Nightingale Mill
museumofcthistory.org

"G. C. Nightingale and C. Allen built this mill in 1846. By 1860 M. S. Morse, who had built a cotton mill directly across the stream in 1846, had pooled his holdings with Nightingale and Allen. In 1861 this group built the extant dam (157' long, 18' high, originally stone but substantially built in concrete) to serve the mills (including the Rhodes Mill) on both banks. After building the dam M. S. Morse's involvement with the east-bank mills ended. Nightingale served as chief executive of the firm controlling the east mills while Allen supervised production as agent. A frame wing, since demolished, connected the Nightengale Mill with the northern Rhodes Mill. In 1870 Nightingale Mills employed 60 women, 59 men and 39 children producing sheetings and shirtings on 10,432 spindles and 205 looms. By 1889 control of the east and west mills was again consolidated, with George M. Morse as president of the new firm and Nightingale as treasurer. This arrangement (but not all the people) lasted into the 20th century. A warehouse now occupies the 1841 Rhodes Mill, a plastics firm the 1846 Nightingale Mill. (Roth)..." connecticutmills.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Congregational Church, 1911

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Day-Kimball Hospital

"Day Kimball Hospital of Windham County opened its doors on September 1, 1894. It was the inspiration of two sisters, Miss Elizabeth and Gertrude Vinton, who had a vision for the “Windham County Infirmary.” Mrs. M. Day Kimball donated $5,000 for the construction of the infirmary building in memory of her recently deceased son, Day Kimball, with the condition that the institution be named after him. Other Kimball family members pledged an additional $4,000, and community members contributed another $1,000. With the $10,000 total donations, Day Kimball Hospital was born..." daykimball.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Municipal Building

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

The John M Dean Pin Factory
museumofcthistory.org

"The John M. Dean Company was originally formed in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1899. John M. Dean was a native of Leads, England and he arrived in the United States during the late-1870s. His firm specialized in the manufacture of metal pins, these with applications ranging from textiles to talking machines. In 1910, Dean relocated the company from Lowell to Putnam, Connecticut, where a new factory was erected on Mechanics Street. Following the move, Dean appointed his son, Charles E. Dean, as president of the firm and he assumed the role of treasurer. His younger son, John M. Dean Jr., served as secretary of the company. Upon settling in Putnam, the range of goods produced by the John M. Dean Company was expanded to include textile pins and talking machine needles, as well as comb, faller, feeder, and card pins used in textile mills. Business increased substantially during the First World War, as many of these goods had previously been produced overseas and their importation was ceased or slowed throughout the conflict. John M. Dean remained associated with the company until the business was sold to the New York, New York-based Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Company. Charles E. and John M. Dean Jr. were retained as managers of the Putnam plant, which operated as a division of the Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Company until the later was reorganized as the General Phonograph Corporation in 1919. General Phonograph continued to operate the former John M. Dean Company as a phonograph needle plant into the middle of the 20th century, however, the John M. Dean Company has since been reestablished as an independent firm. The business continues to manufacture pins and other pointed metal products as well as performs secondary processes such as heat treating, polishing, and finishing..." connecticutmills.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Putnam Woolen Co. No. 1
museumofcthistory.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Morse Mills
museumofcthistory.org

"M. S. Morse and Co. began construction of this mill on the west bank of the Quinebaug River in 1846. Stonemason Lafayette Waters built this mill and the very similar Nightingale and Allen mill across the river, also begun in 1846. Morse and the Nightingale firm combined in 1861 to build the dam, and shared equally the 360 horsepower the dam afforded. After the dam was built Morse withdrew from major involvement with the east-bank mills, but Nightingale retained shares in the Morse operation. In 1870 Morse employed 52 men, 44 women and 29 children to run 9,046 spindles and 200 looms in manufacture of cotton sheetings. By 1889 George M. Morse headed a new firm that controlled the mills on both sides of the river. Frame mill houses stand west of the Morse Mill along Church and Morse Sts. The mill has been converted to a cold storage warehouse. (Roth)" connecticutmills.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Putnam Woolen Mills
museumofcthistory.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Putnam Inn, E. C. Rogers, Prop., 1923

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Pouhatan Mills, Putnam, Conn.
museumofcthistory.org

"George M. Morse built Powhatan Mill in 1872. It stands at the upper water privilege on the Quinebaug River in Putnam, about 1,000' upstream from the Morse family's 1846 cotton mill (at 241 Church Street). Hosea Ballou first developed this upper privilege in 1847, erecting a mill (since destroyed) on the west bank, opposite Powhatan. Morse ran 20,000 spindles for cotton manufacture here in 1884. The current occupant, Belding-Corticelli Thread Co., bought Powhatan in 1918. (Roth)" connecticutmills.org

Putnam, Connecticut, USA

Annhurst College