Willimantic, Connecticut

History

Willimantic is best known locally for its frog legend and for its illegal heroin trade.

Related Topics:
Frog - Heroin

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The "Battle of Frog Pond" was an incident around the time of the French and Indian War in which the citizens, after a long night of drinking, heard a tremendous racket outside. Assuming the worst, they seized their arms and proceeded to fire into the night, until the noises stopped. Congratulating each other on a job well done, they went to sleep, only to discover the next morning that the Willimantic River had dried up, sending a vast army of bullfrogs in search of water in which to spawn. Thus, the citizens were confronted with a field full of dead frogs, and the legend was born. The story is apocryphal, and most likely well embellished by local color. Nevertheless, the town has recently erected a Frog Bridge to commemorate the incident, featuring frogs atop spools of thread.

Related Topics:
French and Indian War - Willimantic River

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The thread spools are included in the bridge's design because Willimantic was, at one time, known as "Thread City". The American Thread Company had a mill in Willimantic on the banks of the Willimantic River, and was at one time the largest employer in the state as well as one of the largest producers of thread in the world. They brought in a series of immigrant labor groups, including the Irish, French-Canadian, Polish and Puerto Rican. (As an interesting side effect, the town has two Catholic churches, St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, because two of the Catholic groups refused to share a church.) The mill was vacated in 1985, and the town has had no major industry to replace it since then.

Related Topics:
American Thread Company - Willimantic River

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The Hartford Courant released a series of articles in October 2002 entitled Heroin Town, detailing the history of the drug trade in the city. The series provoked an outraged response from the townspeople, who saw themselves as victims of, at best, yellow journalism.

Related Topics:
Hartford Courant - October - 2002 - Yellow journalism

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Later a piece aired on 60 Minutes 2, also detailing the drug use in Willimantic.

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