Putnam Ct. Mill Crawl 4/24/14

My destination spot on Thursday was Putnam, Ct. I was surprised to find what felt much more like a mid-size town than Stafford Springs (which seemed very small). However, Putnam lists a population of only 9.5k, while Stafford Springs was 12k.

Putnam describes itself as a New England Mill town, incorporating at the height of the Industrial Revolution in 1855. The Quinebaug River was the supplier of the water source, and Mill buildings in the downtown area are on both sides of this river.

The Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor produced a lovely trail heritage page:

River Mills Heritage Trail

Now how could I not visit? I had been looking at this site for years and finally made the trip. I was a bit disappointed however when I did visit. The library knew nothing about the  trail map, the site listed for the Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor Office (in a mill) didn't exist anymore, they moved to Danielson Ct., and the little park that was created was run down and the pictures on the kiosk there looked like this:

Looks like a Lewis Hines photo- wonder if it is? More research to do.

So the pictures were faded, the town has seen better days, and I couldn't find the brochure I came to collect. But the hx'ical info still was legible and the Mill markers were there for me to follow, so I went on my little scavenger hunt.

I went in search of the Powhattan Mill first, which is now the Belding building.  The door was unlocked, there were several businesses listed, but I knew right away that this was outdated. The business I was looking for was gone, I imagine many others were too. The hall was dark and dusty and felt like it was an old man with sagging bones and skin. HOWEVER, they did have this little diorama-like display that is the stuff I groove on:

Somewhere in the small print I espied the name Corticelli and had an aha! moment.

 I could just imagine the woman in the picture above toiling her live away standing in front of the silk looms. Probably several members of her family did, including her children. The interconnectedness of this whole era and area is amazing to me. We proudly promote and also put on our historical sites the Corticelli name and its history to the production of silk in Florence, MA. The fact that there was a corporate marriage between these 2 places around 1925 was a cool little factoid to discover. Then more on the Belding name led me to this link, literally (because the Belding birthplace was Ashfield, MA) and figuratively:
The Belding Mill history

The once huge mill complex that dominated the downtown area, is now much reduced (there were a few awful floods in the mid 20th century that did some damage + not sure what was before, only seeing what is now), but it and its associated mill housing are extant, and extant always excites me!

Behind Belding, have no idea what these steel structures are.

More mystery out-buildings behind the Mill

There was no way I was making it any closer for my beloved window shots!

These last two are remains of an outbuilding on the 2nd Mill housing street, Powhatan.

The Mill housing was exactly as one would expect. These two small streets (Mohegan runs right alongside the Mill and Powhatan is the next street) were all double entry wood frame worker dwellings that were built in 1872.

This was the only blighted house site I saw (across the street from the other industrial ruins).

Even ugly is pretty sometimes.

I tried to make my way around this trail without the map and in the blustery cold. I took in a fraction of what is marked and here (yes you are right, it means a return trip!). Here's what I captured:

Can you believe it? An operating button mill. And with some very suspicious owners, let me tell you. See the visitors parking on the left. Well what the hell do you think I am? So I park and take my lovely shots of hx'ic marker + bldg. Out runs these 2 guys wanting to know what I was doing. Duh! So I ask some questions about their hx'ic bldg. They are clueless about history, except their own, which they braggingly state "we've been making buttons since 1928." Okay, so be proud, but that aint that old, at least not to me. And here is some of their history of button-making: 

1939 - Introduced Phenol formaldehyde molded button products. 1941 - Buttons molded from Urea made their initial appearance in the Emsig stable of innovations. 1942 - Buttons made from Fire retardant, color fast, Melamine resins were introduced. Sounds yummy for the river, right? I know, I know- my passion doesn't quite make me green.

This enigma house sits right at the end of the intesection of Kennedy Rd. + Providence St., which means it is inbetween all these old mills. Yet it looks more like a farmhouse than a mill owner mansion (yes there is one on the trail, but I didn't get to it this visit). 

The next 3 are across the river shots and I ran out of time (and had no brochure to follow to identify) to hunt around. Next time I am going to Danielson, where the producers of the brochure are now housed- wherever the heck that is, and getting my literature!

Random Mill housing shows the varied construction around the town.

Every town should have ducks- be they literal or figural.

 AND Finally, there was this little exciting news flash:

I think it kind of amusing that the BANDIT had a SILK stocking down over his nose, giving the blds. history. Wonder if it was a Belding or a Hemingway or Corticelli silk made stocking?

Big time- FBI joined the case. Could not find any other mention on the 'net about resolution in the case. Yet another mystery!

They don't look too happy now do they? I do like the company newspaper though. Someone was witty enough to combine the owner names and add the spool. Cute, cute.