HELPFUL WEBSITES
Looking for information on local history and civics? Check out this list. To suggest other websites to add, please email the webmaster: Susan Barlow.
Manchester Civic and Cultural Websites
- Cheney Brothers personnel records Searchable database of employee personnel cards, scanned at UConn’s Dodd Center. Scroll down to find alphabetical categories.
- Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District: Preservation and Development Plan This 93-page booklet was created in 1980, shortly after the National Park Service designated the Landmark District in Manchester. The booklet includes vintage maps, photos, a history of the District and its designation, and the people involved in the designation and planning. The Town appoints members to the Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District Commission, which meets on the first Thursday of the month at Town Hall. More information about the Commission can be found in the next article.
- Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District: Commission The Manchester Historical Society works with the Commission, and the Society President is an ex-officio member of the Commission. Information on the establishment of the District as a National Landmark can be found in the previous article.
- Connecticut Firemen’s Historical Society Museum The Fire Museum is housed in a retired 1901 fire station that saw the transition from hand-drawn to horse-drawn, then to motorized apparatus. The collection includes a working Gamewell Fire Alarm System, and hundreds of examples of early American craftsmanship related to firefighting such as glassware, lighting, leather-making, photography, textiles and paintings.
- East Cemetery Graves Listing Viewers can look up information that’s inscribed on gravestones in the East Cemetery, Manchester, CT. This database was completed in 2002, so newer gravestones may not be listed.
- Imagine Main Street This organization’s mission is to revitalize the Downtown historic district through the economic and cultural impetus of the arts, including performance, galleries, pop-up stores, public art and sculpture and beautification projects.
- Little Theatre of Manchester: Cheney Hall A regional entertainment center in an 1869 theater designed by Hammatt Billings.
- Living Places: Cheney Brothers Historic District A 13-page description of the National Register’s Cheney Brothers Historic District in the “Living Places” website.
- Living Places: Manchester Historic District A 22-page description of the National Register’s Manchester Historic District in the “Living Places” website.
- Living Places: Main Street Manchester Historic District An 8-page description of the National Register’s Main Street (Manchester) Historic District in the “Living Places” website.
- Living Places: Union Village Historic District An 11-page description of the National Register’s Union Village Historic District in the “Living Places” website.
- Lutz Children’s Museum Educational organization and museum inspired by Hazel Lutz and now located in the former South School building, constructed 1923 and used as an elementary school until 1982.
- Manchester Firefighters Memorial Garden A garden memorializing firefighters dedicated in 2002 with a special tribute to the 343 New York Firefighters lost at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
- Manchester Historical Society President’s YouTube Channel A YouTube channel established by Historical Society President Jack Prior to hold appropriate videos. The specific videos are also identified in the “Selected You Tube Videos” section on this page below. Work on the site was abandoned in 2018.
- Manchester Land Trust A conservation organization that preserves land in Manchester, East Hartford, Vernon, Bolton, and Andover.
- Manchester Road Race A world-class and historic race where thousands of runners compete each Thanksgiving.
- Manchester Sports Hall of Fame A tribute to Manchester’s athletes, coaches, journalists and others who have contributed to the world of sports. The exhibit is housed at the Manchester Historical Society’s Old Manchester Museum.
- Pitkin Glass Works The ruins of the former glass factory are located at the corner of Parker and Putnam Streets, not far from Manchester Green.
- Pride in Manchester Week and Heritage Day A week of events celebrating Manchester’s diversity, arts, and history. Held each June, with dozens of free events for young and old.
Public Access Television Manchester Public Access Television Channel 15 serves the towns of Manchester, South Windsor, Glastonbury, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Newington. - Silk City Television This is the website for Silk City Television, Channel 16 in Manchester, Connecticut, which is Manchester’s Government and Education Television Station. It will broadcast Board meetings as well as a large variety of shows dedicated to town departments, school events, and other Town-related activities.
- Silk City Television: Manchester Historical Society Videos on Demand You can now watch our Historical Society television shows online! Silk City Television now has available selected videos produced by the Society, which you can select for immediate viewing. Click the above link to access the Silk City Television web site. Input historical into the search box and click “Go” to get the list of videos. Click a video you’re interested in to bring up detailed information on it. To view it, click the Watch Now link.
HISTORIC MAPS
- C. 1625 Map of Indian Trails & Villages This map was created in 1930 to depict trails and villages of the native people of Connecticut. Note that Mathias Spiess, co-author of the 1923 History of Manchester, compiled the information for the map. Additional information in the lower right corner of the map.
- C. 1780 Washington-Rochambeau March Route The Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail passes right through Manchester! You can see the route on this map, and zoom in on Manchester. The Historic Trail, related to events during the American Revolution, is part of the National Park Service.
- Early Map of Connecticut Circa 1800 zoomable map of Connecticut, “from the best authorities delineated & engraved by A. Doolittle,” created by Amos Doolittle (1754-1832), and published in an 1813 atlas. Manchester, incorporated in 1823, is not a town on the map, but the area is there, with rivers and a glassworks.
- 1854 Railroad & Telegraph Map Zoomable map of New England’s railroad and telegraph lines, 1854, from the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.
- 1855 Smith’s Map of Hartford County With businesses, home owners, and inset of Cheeneyville, drawing of W.H.Jones residence and silk mill. Takes a moment to download.
- 1869 Map of Manchester With rivers, school districts, businesses, home owners. Takes a moment to download. Thanks to Dick Jenkins for graphics work on this map.
- 1869 Map of North Manchester An 1869 map of North Manchester, with an emphasis on mills, houses, and water.
- 1869 Map of South Manchester An 1869 map of South Manchester, with an emphasis on the Cheney Mills, which can be contrasted with the current Cheney Brothers National Historic Landmark District Map.
- 1880 View of North Manchester An aerial panoramic map of North Manchester, dated 1880, from the UConn library. This down-loadable map is zoomable and printable, but it is very large and may take considerable time to download.
- 1880 View of South Manchester An aerial panoramic map of South Manchester, dated 1880, from the UConn library. The map is zoomable and printable, but it is very large and may take considerable time to download.
- Circa 1885-1890 Map of North Manchester The map includes Suffield and Somers — scroll down to see Manchester. As to the date — the New York and New England Railroad operated from 1873 to 1893, and the date of Starkweather Street house is 1885, so the map is from that era.
- 1892 map of Manchester from the Bowers town directory.
- 1902 map of Manchester from the Bowers town directory.
- 1911 Map of Connecticut Street Railways “to Accompany the Report of the Railroad Commissioners, 1911. Publisher Lith. Kellogg & Bulkely, Hartford, Conn. Original located at UConn’s Babbidge Map Library.” Along with Connecticut’s trolleys and railroads, look for Manchester’s main line, Cheney railroad spur, and trolleys going to Buckland and Rockville. This down-loadable map is zoomable and printable, but it is large and may take considerable time to download.
- 1914 Map of Manchester An aerial panoramic map of Manchester, dated 1914, on the Library of Congress web site. The map is zoomable and printable. Or, view the 1914 map as a PDF on our web site, which may take some time to download.
- 1928 Geological Survey Map of Manchester Updated at different times. Includes geological features of the central part of Manchester. Produced by U.S. Department of the Interior — more info U.S. Geological Survey.
- 1931 Trolley & Busline map Showing Manchester’s streets, with trolley and buslines drawn over. Many thanks to Dick Jenkins who sent us this map.
- 1932 South Manchester Railway (“Cheney Railroad”) Map Many thanks to Joe Gibilisco who sent us this map, dated November 1932, of the Right-of-Way and Track Map of the South Manchester Railroad.
- 1934 Manchester Map An interactive, zoomable, aerial map of Manchester dating from April, 1934, from the Connecticut State Library’s ‘Digital Collections’ offerings.
- 1934 Neighborhood Comparison Map Using a zoomable aerial map of Manchester, this site compares the 1934 neighborhood side-by-side with a present-day Google map. Provided by UConn’s Map and Geographic Information Center (Magic).
- Circa 1940 Chamber of Commerce Map of Manchester with listings of “public buildings, public schools, churches, and manufacturers.”
- 1946 Map of Manchester Zoomable map from the 1946 Manchester Directory published by Price and Lee (the entire directory is available on our web site HERE). Note that many of the town directories had a map, but sometimes maps got separated from their directories and are misplaced.
- 1948 Case Mountain map, revised in 1964, Shenipsit Trails. By L.M. Porter.
- 1949 Map of Manchester Zoomable map from the 1949 Manchester Directory published by Price and Lee.
- 1952 Geological Survey Map of Manchester Updated 1959. Includes location of houses and geological features of the central part of Manchester. Produced by U.S. Department of the Interior — more info U.S. Geological Survey.
- “Discovery” map 2020, showing businesses and attractions in the center and south of Manchester. Listings on the reverse of the “Discovery” map.
Connecticut Websites
- Cigar History: 1878-1915 Connecticut grew a lot of tobacco for cigars from the eighteenth century through the 1970s in Manchester, and into the Twenty-First century in other Connecticut towns. This web site describes the history of cigars and tobacco growing.
- Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism The mission of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism is to preserve and promote Connecticut’s cultural and tourism assets in order to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality of the State. The Historic Preservation and Museum Division functions under state and federal law as Connecticut’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The division administers a range of federal and state programs that identify, register and protect the buildings, sites, structures, districts and objects that comprise Connecticut’s cultural heritage.
- Connecticut Firemen’s Historical Society Museum The Fire Museum is housed in a retired 1901 fire station with a unique atmosphere that saw the transition from hand drawn to horse drawn, then to motorized apparatus. In addition to a working Gamewell Fire Alarm System, our collection includes hundreds of fine examples of early American craftsmanship related to firefighting such as glassware, lighting, leather making, photography, textiles and paintings.
- connecticuthistory.org Stories of Connecticut places, events, people, including primary source documents.
- Connecticut State Historian The Office of the Connecticut State Historian’s Home Page.
- Connecticut State Library The Connecticut State Library’s Home Page
- Connecticut Towns and Their Establishment Date Source: The Connecticut State Library
- Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation is dedicated to protecting and nourishing the vitality of Connecticut’s significant buildings and landscapes.
- Hockanum River Watershed Association The Hockanum River was central to the founding of Manchester, providing a source of power to the original factories and mills. The Hockanum River Watershed Association is dedicated to the preservation and protection of the watershed area’s green belt, hiking trails and water quality in the towns making up the Watershed.
- Museum of CT Glass A future museum with two buildings in Coventry, CT, whose mission is to preserve, exhibit, and educate about glass made in Connecticut.
- New England Civil War Museum This museum is located right in Vernon, Connecticut, “inside the longest continuously used Civil War veterans hall in the United States, 1890-present…It is devoted to the fighting men of the War of the Rebellion.” The Manchester Historical Society recommends visiting both the web site and the museum.
- Railroad Museum of New England Web site of the Naugatuck Railroad, a heritage railway operated by the volunteers of the Railroad Museum of New England, featuring not only scenic train rides but also restoration of railway equipment by the Museum’s team of volunteers.
- Rogers Company History A history of the Rogers Company, founded in Manchester by Peter Rogers in 1832, and greatly expanded over the years.
- Tankerhoosen River Watershed The Tankerhoosen River is made up of two primary streams – one arising in Tolland and the other in Bolton. It ends where it joins the Hockanum River in Talcottville where the water flows to the Connecticut River in East Hartford. The purpose of this website is to be a resource for information about the area for both those living here and those who enjoy hiking and exploring the area.
- Thomas J. Dodd Research Center The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center contains archival research materials.
> The Dodd Center has online resources, as well as materials for researchers to review in person in Storrs, Connecticut. - Tolland CT Historical Society Museums and history events in Tolland.
National Websites
- Andersonville Monument to Connecticut POWs In 1907, Frank W. Cheney and other members of his family attended the dedication of a Civil War statue at Andersonville Prison, honoring Connecticut’s prisoners of war. The book “In Memory of the Connecticut Men Who Suffered in Southern Military Prisons 1861-1865” describes the monument and its dedication with text and pictures. Frank’s wife, Mary Bushnell Cheney, wrote a chapter of the book (“Notes by a Guest”). F.W. Cheney, also known as Col. Cheney, a Civil War veteran of the 16th Connecticut Volunteers, spoke at the dedication.
- Civil War Information from the National Park Service The National Park Service provides information about the Civil War, including names of those who fought and died, the battlefields that are now National Parks, and monuments.
- Civil War Veterans Return to Battlefields Film In this 5½ minute film, Civil War veterans return to fields where they fought, decades after the end of the war. The film is part of the Ken Burns Civil War project, and consists of footage shot between 1913 and 1938.
- Fulton History Search millions of New York State newspaper pages from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including the New York Times, Canton NY & St. Lawrence Plaindealer, and the Utica NY Daily Observer. Even though these are New York state newspapers, they do have articles about events related to Connecticut, and there are pertinent advertisements, for instance, some for Apel’s Opera House. The search box is in the upper left when you click the link.
- History of Silk in America A short history of silk manufacturing in America, beginning with attempts in the 1620s to force planters to plant mulberry trees in Virginia; later other attempts in the South before the attempts were abandoned in order to plant cotton; and then attempts in New England, eventually terminated when a blight killed off most of the trees. After than, silk production shifted from cultivating trees and cocoons as well as manufacturing silk products, to just the latter. Cheney Brothers is specifically mentioned as a firm which went through all phases, until the closing of most of these by the 1950s.
- Latter-day Saints Family History Web Site Searchable family data provided free through the Mormon Church. Searchable by event (birth, marriage, death) and location.
- Library of Congress “American Memory” Project American Memory has digitized historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, movies, books, pamphlets, maps, and other resources from the Library of Congress — more than 100 collections and more than 9 million individual items.
> Click here http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/index.html for lists of all collections, collections by time period, collections containing maps, sheet music, sound recordings, etc., and collections by geographic location in the U.S.
> Click here http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/help/faq.html for Frequently Asked Questions about this site.
> Type today in history in the Search box for interesting day-by-day gems from all of the collections. - National Iwo Jima Memorial The National Iwo Jima Memorial Monument, which is located in Newington, CT, was unveiled and dedicated on February 23, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the historic flag raising on Mount Suribachi. The Monument is similar to, but not a replica, of the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, VA. The 100 servicemen from Connecticut, who died during the Battle of Iwo Jima, are listed on the west side of the monument’s black granite base.
- National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America’s communities. The Trust was founded in 1949 and provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to protect the irreplaceable places that tell America’s story.
- New England Civil War Museum This museum is located right in Vernon, Connecticut, “inside the longest continuously used Civil War veterans hall in the United States, 1890-present…It is devoted to the fighting men of the War of the Rebellion.” The Manchester Historical Society recommends visiting both the web site and the museum.
- Society of Industrial Archaeology The story of Manchester is closely linked with industry; and the mission of the Society for Industrial Archeology (SIA) is to encourage the study, interpretation, and preservation of historically significant industrial sites, structures, artifacts, and technology. This link will point the user to chapters in their region and their web sites.
Patents and Inventions
- CT State Library Research Page Search page of the Connecticut State Library’s “Connecticut Patents” project, with information on patents awarded from 1800 to 1900. Note that the same inventor may be associated with multiple towns, so restricting the search to just Manchester may not give all the results you’re seeking. (The search criteria used are repeated at the bottom of the search results page.)
- US Patent and Trademark Office Web Site US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for additional information on specific patents. Note that not all patent information has been digitized as yet, so the information may not be available online. (Use the page’s “Issued Patents” items to correlate items to the Connecticut web page’s items.)
- Google Patent Search Google Patent Search’s web site, a complement to the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office’s web site. As noted on the site’s home page, Google and the USPTO have entered into an agreement to make bulk patent and trademark information available to the public at no charge.
