Norwich, Connecticut

Norwich, known as "The Rose of New England," is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 36,117 at the 2000 census. Norwich is located on three rivers, named the Yantic, the Shetucket and the Thames.

Norwich was founded in 1659 when settlers from Old Saybrook, Connecticut purchased land from Chief Uncas founder of the Native American Tribe Mohegan. It came to be known as a manufacturing city because of its many large mills.

Sports & Recreation

The AA baseball Connecticut Defenders, formerly the Norwich Navigators, are a farm team of the San Francisco Giants. The Norwich Municipal Ice Rink is an active center for Norwich's youth and young-at-heart. It has a 200' x 85' NHL regulation ice surface, four large locker rooms and other amenities. Residents of Norwich, Taftville, Occum and Yantic, senior citizens, and members of the U.S. Armed Forces receive reduced admission rates. Established in 1995, the Rose City Warriors are Norwich's Senior Women's Ice Hockey Team. The Norwich Icebreakers Junior Hockey Team are a Junior A hockey team competing within the America East Hockey League.

The Slater Memorial Museum located on the campus of Norwich Free Academy is named for John Fox Slater (1814 - 1884), corporator of the Norwich Free Academy for twenty years.The museum has grown to include the "Art of Five Continents" - North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Of particular interest are the Vanderpoel Collection of Asian Art, the Paul Zimmerman Collection of African and Oceanic Art, and a collection of American 19th century paintings.

Norwich Neighborhoods

Several Norwich neighborhoods maintain independent identities and are recognized by official signs marking their boundaries. Neighborhoods of Norwich are Norwichtown, Bean Hill, Yantic,Taftville, Greeneville, Occum, East Great Plain, Thamesville, Laurel Hill and Chelsea (the original "downtown" area.)

Greeneville

The Greeneville section of Norwich Connecticut was named by William Greene. In 1826, Greene purchased land on both sides of the Shetucket River to develop. In 1828, he transferred the land to the Norwich Water Power Company, where he was the largest shareholder. Norwich Water Power Company began construction on a dam in 1829. By 1833, the dam and canals were finished and capable of providing hydro-electric power to 40-50 thousand spindles. Mills were quickly built along the Shetucket River during the mid-1800s to take advantage of this water-power. The remains of the original dam may still be seen upstream of the present dam.

The Greeneville Dam Fishing Area provides fishing and boating access to the Shetucket River at the site of Norwich Public Utilities operated hydroelectric dam and fish ladder. There is a canoe/kayak put-in within a 200 yard portage from the parking area. Norwich Public Utilities offers tours of its Greeneville Dam Fish Lift starting the last week of April and running through the month of May.

Greeneville Dam, accessed off 8th Street, is located on Roosevelt Avenue. Routes leading to the dam are posted with the brown and white Long Island Sound Access sign or you may go to the Connecticut Coastal Access Guide for directions and details.

Greeneville's Neighborhood Revitalization Zone committee, the Greeneville School and its PTO are active in keeping the Greeneville section small business and family-friendly. Taftville is another section of Norwich with a strong neighborhood identity and, despite a modest geographic area/population has kept its own ZIP code (06380).

Greeneville Elementary School165 Golden Street Ext. Norwich, CT 06360 Phone: (860) 823-4203 Fax: (860) 823-4288

History

Abraham Lincoln and the Norwich ministerHolzer, Harold, Lincoln at Cooper Union, Chapter 8: "Unable to Escape This Toil," pp. 198-201, hereafter "Holzer"

On March 9, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was on a speaking tour of southern New England, and made a speech before a large crowd at Norwich Town Hall. His speeches on that trip closely followed his speech at Cooper Union in New York City, in which he impressed the New Yorkers with a reasonable, dignified explanation of his views, especially against extending slavery into the territories. A reception at Wauregan House followed, and Lincoln booked a room there overnight. He stayed up till 3 a.m. exchanging funny stories with his new political friends. Holzer, p. 198, Holzer in turn cites (footnote 63) Hough H. Osgood quoted in Abraham Lincoln: Tributes from His Associates, edited by Ward, page 266; and Eggleston, Lincoln in New England, (New York: Steward, Warren & Co., 1922), p. 23.

One Democrat who attended the speech, but not the party afterward, was John P. Gulliver, a local minister. The next morning, Gulliver was at the railroad station and saw Lincoln there to catch the same train. The mayor of Norwich waited with him as Lincoln anxiously peered down the tracks, "inquiring half impatiently and half quizzically, 'Where's that "wagon" of yours? Why don't the "wagon" come along?'" Holzer, p 198-200, cites (footnote 64) "A Talk With Abraham Lincoln," The Independent, September 1, 1864, in which the story, including the quoted conversation, is told. In 1866, the story was reprinted in Carpenter, Francis B., Six Months at the White House with President Lincoln: The Story of a Picture (New York: Hurd & Houghton).

The mayor introduced the minister to Lincoln, who stared at him and said, "I have seen you before, sir!"

Gulliver said he must be mistaking him for someone else.

"No, I don't; I saw you at the Town Hall last evening."

Gulliver asked him if it was possible he could have remembered a face in the crowd like that.

"Oh yes! That is my way. I don't forget faces. Were you not there?"

Gulliver admitted that he was and told Lincoln the speech was "one of the most extraordinary speeches I ever heard." Lincoln and Gulliver, going the same way, became traveling companions on the train toward New Haven, where Lincoln would give another speech. Gulliver told Lincoln what others had said: The politician's speeches were powerful because he gave very clear reasoning for his views.

In 1864, Gulliver wrote to Lincoln asking if he could publish an article about their conversation, and sent him a copy of the proposed article to go over for inaccuracy or even imprudence ("if you judge it imprudent to publish it, it may be suppressed"). Lincoln's response, if any, is lost to history, but it seems unlikely that the minister would have gone ahead and had the article published. That occurred in the New York Independent (a pro-Lincoln newspaper) on September 1, 1864.Holzer, (footnote 67) citing Gulliver's article as well as the letter from Gulliver to Lincoln, dated August 26, 1864, in the Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 76.4 km² (29.5 mi²). 73.4 km² (28.3 mi²) of it is land and 3.0 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (3.87%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population of Norwich[1][2]
1756	5,540
1774	7,327
1782	7,325
1800	3,476
1810	3,528
1820	3,634
1830	5,179
1840	7,239
1850	10,265
1860	14,048
1870	16,653
1880	21,143
1890	23,048
1900	24,637
1910	28,219
1920	29,685
1930	32,438
1940	34,140
1950	37,633
1960	38,506
1970	41,739
1980	38,074
1990	37,391
2000	36,117
2002	36,003 (estimate)

As of the census² of 2000, there were 36,117 people, 15,091 households, and 9,069 families residing in the city. The population density was 492.2/km² (1,274.7/mi²). There were 16,600 housing units at an average density of 226.2/km² (585.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.14% White, 6.84% Black or African American, 1.21% Native American, 2.10% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.76% from other races, and 3.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.11% of the population.

There were 15,091 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.7% were married couples living together, 15.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,181, and the median income for a family was $49,155. Males had a median income of $34,880 versus $26,880 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,742. About 8.3% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

*The Norwich Free Academy is the primary high school for children living in Norwich and several surrounding towns. Three Rivers Community College serves the region and is located on two sites in Norwich. The middle schools of Norwich are Teacher's Memorial Middle School (TMMS) and Kelly Middle School.

Notable people, past and present

*Benedict Arnold, born in Norwich, famous colonial traitor. There is a commemorative plaque on the lot where his house used to stand. The city library has a prominent portrait of Arnold on the north wall.
*Isaac Backus, a delegate to the First Continental Congress, was born in the city.
*Benjamin Church surgeon general of the Continental Army, suspected of spying for the enemy, was confined in the city.
*Erastus Corning, born in the city
*Thomas J. Dodd (1907-1971) a U.S. Senator and Representative and the father of U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, was born in the city.
*Arielle Dombasle (born Arielle Sonnery de Fromental in 1958 in Norwich) is a singer and actress working mostly in French films.
*Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author and social reformer, lived for a short time in the city.
*Jonas Galusha (1753-1834) Governor of Vermont for two terms in the early 1800s, was born in the city.
*Roger Griswold (1762-1812), Governor of Connecticut, practiced law for a time in Norwich.
*Galusha A. Grow, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863, studied law in the city.
*Benjamin Huntington (1736â€"1800) a delegate to the Continental Congress and later a Congressman, resident of the city.
*Samuel Huntington, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence
*Samuel Kirkland (1741â€"1808) a Presbyterian missionary among the Oneida and Tuscarora people and founder (in 1793) of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy (later Hamilton College), was born in the city.
*Wally Lamb, author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, was the director of the Writing Center at the Norwich Free Academy in the city from 1989 to 1998.
*Edwin H. Land, inventer of the Polaroid Camera
*Miantonomoh (1565?-1643), chief of the Narraganset tribe, captured and executed by the Mohican chief Uncas with a tomohawk in Norwich.
*Elisha Perkins (1741â€"1799) a popular quack doctor whose magnetic therapy, "Perkins Tractors" (made up of two 3-inch steel and brass rods with points at the ends) convinced even George Washington to buy a set.
*E. Annie Proulx(pronounced /proo/) was born in 1935 in the city.
*Edith Roosevelt, the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt, was born in the city.
*Lydia Sigourney (1791-1865) an extremely popular poet from the early to mid Nineteenth century, was born in the city.
*Horace Smith (1808-1893), partnered with Daniel B. Wesson in Norwich in the early 1850s to develop the first repeating rifle, known as the Volcanic rifle. The two founded Smith & Wesson in 1852.
*Daniel B. Wesson, see Horace Smith
*William Woodbridge (1780-1861) Governor of Michigan, who also represented the state in the U.S. Senate, was born in the city.

References

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External links

*Norwich, Connecticut website
*Mystic Country: The Eastern Regional Tourism District
*A Brief History of Norwich