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Welcome to The Historical Society of Glastonbury HSG Benefits Join HSG Contact Us Newsletters The Town of Glastonbury As early as the mid 1600's, a handful of Wethersfield residents worked the land "east of the river." In 1690, they petitioned the General Court to become a separate entity. By 1693, those determined people convinced Reverend Timothy Stevens to serve as their minister and built their meeting house as part of the requirements of the Connecticut General Court for township. Glassenbury thrived and the town began to take shape. Today, we're familiar with East and South Glastonbury, maybe even Buckingham and Bucks Corner. But what about Curtisville? Shingle Hollow? Walker's Corner? Taylor Town? These neighborhoods, and over two dozen others, were the heart and soul of the town and still exist in our vocabulary today. Each played a role in the development of the town and each helps personify our "community" spirit. "Glistening Town" from the Anglo-Saxon ties us directly to Glastonbury in Somerset, England. The spelling of our town varied until the mid-1800's when it was decided to conform to the "proper" English spelling. The thorn on our town seal is a replication of the Somerset thorn, which visually links us to our European past. Over two dozen sites in town tell tremendous and often scintillating tales of Glastonbury's past. We still boast the oldest continuously operating ferry in the country. The Cotton Hollow Powder Mill gives us a chilling description of the revolutionary war era. The Welles Chapman Tavern was the stop-over from Hartford to New London. Stone from the town's quarry built the Wadsworth Atheneum. The Hollister parcel is thought to be an ancient Native American burial ground. The William Welles residence housed and educated some of Yale University's students during the revolutionary war while British warships plied New Haven Harbor. Time Line year event 1614 Adriaen Block sails up Quinnihticut River 1631 Wahquinaucus and Jack Straw try to entice John Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay Colony to come to Pyaug/Nayaug 1633 John Oldham settles in Pyaug 1635 Thomas Hooker comes 1636 30 families in Pyaug: tract of land on river in Glastonbury purchased from Sowheag for 12 yard of trading cloth 1639/40 First house: cow herder’s cellar hole, employee of Matthew Mitchell of Wethersfield 1639 Survey show 34 strips of land each going 3 miles into wilderness: “Naubuc Farms” (First survey in CT) 1653 General Court gives Glastonbury recognition separate from Wethersfield with permission to drill for military defense 1667 First sawmill 1670 Main Street laid out along Indians’ “Long Path”; called “Country Road” 1672 General Court grants permission to Wethersfield and Hartford to extended their boundaries 5 miles to the East 1675 War between Nayaugs and Pequots: Red Hill Indians many centuries before Christ: Nayaugs, Naubucs, Wongunks 1684 Second survey 1684 Boundary dispute: Glastonbury looses 85 ½ rods to East Hartford 1689 Glastonbury petitions Wethersfield to be a separate township 1690 Permission granted from Wethersfield to be a separate township 1690 First Town Meeting 1692 Rev. Timothy Stevens appointed pastor of the First Society 1692 Town named Glassenbury 1693 40 ft. home built for Rev. Stevens corner of Main Street and Morgan Road 1693 First Meeting House on Green 1694 Eleazer Kimberly first delegate to General Court 1700 First shipyard: Naubuc Ship Yard 1703 Fine of 1 shilling levied against disorderly conduct; ½ goes to complainer, ½ to help poor of town 1711 First School House completed; Robbard Poole hired as schoolmaster 1731 Eastbury established 1731 School assessment for all children 6 to 12 years of age whether attending school or no is often paid in wood for schoolhouse stoves 1734 Meeting House burns and is rebuilt on west side of Main Street 1740 Yellow fever wipes out men of Eastbury 1747 Portion of Eastbury become Marlborough 1750 Thomas Welles Shipyard at Log Landing 1755 Wells Shipman Ward House built 1760 The Great Gristmill of Nayaug with oven and bakeshop erected 1765 Last acreage of Wongunk/Nayaugs (in Portland) broken into building lots and sold. The Indian population had dwindled to 12 or 13. 1767 Townshend Acts 1769 Elisha Treat’s “Lineet” (linseed) oil mill in operation 1770 Meeting at New Haven to discuss non-importation 1774 Portland applies to be reimbursed 70 pounds for care when last of Indians dies 1776 Declaration of Independence 1776 Dr. Asaph Coleman organizes small hospital between Knob Hill and Apple Hill, works with small pox inoculations; hospital includes “pest house” for worst small pox cases 1777 Stocking powder factory explodes Yale holds classes in Glastonbury homes (including Welles house) 1780 Talcott Camp and Co. Forge in operation 1780 Glastonbury frees its slaves (over the decade) 1785 Wells Tavern built by Joseph Welles 1786 Spelling appears as Glastenbury 1787 Tornado kills woman and her son in Rocky Hill; her wedding dress is blown to barn roof of her sister who lives in Glastonbury 1789 Bids for care of poor solicited by Town Selectman; selectman have charge of care of poor (see 1703) 1791 At least 7 sawmills in operation to feed shipping industry 1792 Joseph Welles receives his first tavern license and is licensed by the Hartford New London Stage Coach Company as a stage coach stop 1793 Methodist circuit preacher in Eastbury 1795 Public School governed by churches: 1. Mr. Alger’s (Hopewell) 2. Mr. Taylor’s South Part 3. Mr. Woodbridge’s South Village 4. Mr. Gideon Hale’s (Center – Hale House 5. Mr. Griswold’s (Green) 6. Mr. Welles’ (No. Glastonbury at current center) 7. Mr. Smith’s (Pratt’s Ferry) 1796 Methodist Parish organized 1798 Academy on the Green between Welles Shipman Ward house and Hopewell Street is best high school in Hartford Area 1800 John W. Purtill Papermill in Wassuc near Smut (late 1800’s); he moves to old Hartford Mfg. Building @ Cotton Hollow 1801 Oswen Welles wooden ware shop in operation 1803 Dr. Asaph Coleman et. al. library that is short lived because of lack of books 1806 Tavern is first official Post Office; Joseph Welles is Post Master 1806 Episcopal Society formed 1808 Nayaug school district added 1810 Methodist church in Eastbury; Rev. Jeremiah Stocking pastor – he also carries Connecticut Courant and mail as far as Saybrook from 1799 – 1824 1813 Episcopal church built 1814 Hartford Manufacturing Co. built at Cotton Hollow 1814 Cotton mill in South Glastonbury 1816 Glastenbury Glass factory in operation 1818 Legal separation of church and state 1819 New Eastbury Congregational Church 1820 Blome’s Cigar Mfg. And Tobacco Pkg. in operation 1822 Samuel Welles organizes Eagle Mfg. Ct. to produce woolen goods 1828 Methodist Church on High Street built (current So. Glastonbury Library) 1835 Wells Tavern bought by Azel Chapman 1836 Second meeting house is demolished and rebuilt on present site of First Congregational Church 1836 Azial Goslee’s Hoe and Farm Implement Factory in operation 1836 South Congregational Church built 1837 First Congregational Church built 1837 Joseph Wright et. al. Establish library that last three years 1839 Glastonbury votes to construct Town House (town hall) at corner of Main and Hubbard Streets 1840 James B. Williams has drugstore in Manchester, experiment with shaving soap. He and his brother take over Hubbard’s Grist Mill 1840 Connecticut frees its slaves 1840 Irish immigrants to escape potato famine 1845 Charcoal is Glastonbury’s sixth largest industry 1845 Glastonbury Seminary burns 1846 Blome’s Cigar Mfg. And Tobacco Pkg acquired by Frederick Curtis of Curtisville German Silver 1848 Eagle Mfg. Fails 1850 Strong anti-slavery sentiments in town 1850 German immigrants establish St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1854 School tax mandatory 1855 Eagle building bought by Glastenbury Knitting Mills 1856 18 autonomous school districts (until 1906) 1857 St. James Episcopal organized 1859 Cornerstone for St. James laid 1861 Gideon Welles serves as Secretary of the Navy under two administrations through 1869 1861 Confederate troops fire on Fort Sumter 1862 Eastbury Congregational becomes renames itself East Glastonbury Congregational 1862 So. Glastonbury Academy School is high school until 1884 1865 Mandatory months of school operation increased from 4 mos./year to 6 mos./year 1865 Roaring Brook Paper Company established 1865 Peace at Appomatox Court House 1866 First Congregational Church burned and rebuilt 1866 Larger Eastbury Congregational Church built next to first 1866 John and George Hale begin fruit business with strawberries 1868 Railroad bridge spans Connecticut River at Middletown 1870 Spelling officially changed to Glastonbury 1870 Geo. S. Andrews feldspar mine and mill’ builds Old Maids’ Lane to get ground feldspar to river for transport 1873 Eastbury Congregational renames itself 1938 1873 Smith Sisters, Julia (77) and Abby (72) stand up against Glastonbury taxation of widows and single women; petition that women be exempt form taxes until they are able to vote 1876 Last Glastonbury built ship completed 1876 Case Brothers’ paper mill on Salmon Brook 1878 St. Augustine’s church established in South Glastonbury 1880 Laying of trolley tracks brings immigrants to lay them – Italians who take over orchard industry after tracks are complete 1881 Town Records Building constructed 1883 First telephone 1884 P.H. Goodrich opens Riverside Mfg. 1884 The Weekly Gazette published in East Hartford, delivered to Glastonbury 1886 Herman Roser buys Isaac Broadheat plant and set up tannery 1888 Blizzard – 3 ½ feet of snow, 10 foot drifts 1890 Weekly news paper, The Glastonbury Bulletin 1892 Electric trolley goes from East Hartford to Hubbard Brook 1895 Town buys Still Hill Boarding Home for use as Town Farm to replace prior poor houses 1895 First public library 1900 First water main on Main Street 1902 Glastonbury votes to establish high school, closes Free Academy 1902 Charles Raze Gager dies of broken neck from football accident; football banned from GHS 1902 St. Paul’s established 1903 First car 1904 St. James destroyed by fire; only tower remains 1907 Frank H. Harriman’s airplane 1909 Consolidation of schools begins 1913 East Haddam Electric Light Co. provides power for Glastonbury to have street lights on Main Street 1914 Examinations required to obtain driver’s license 1914 Polish National Alliance established 1914 Glazier Mfg. produces overcoats for British, Belgian, and Italian governments 1917 U.S. enters World War I – Glastonbury forms “Home Guard 1917 Glazier Mfg. produces 200,000 yards melton for U.S. and French Troops, Glastonbury Knitting Mills : 400,000 undergarments for U.S. soldiers Williams Bros. Makes forceps, etc Roser’s Tannery produces leather for shoes, watchstraps, etc. 1917 Formation of Women’s Committee of Glastonbury Council of Defense 1917 Influenza epidemic; formation of Glastonbury VNA 1917 Formation of Glastonbury Council of Defense 1917 First motorized school bus 1920 Mill @ Cotton Hollow burns 1920 Volunteer fire companies organized 1920 Consolidated Cigar Corporation comes to Glastonbury 1922 GHS built – the current Academy School building 1923 Agricultural Ed put permanently into curriculum with grant from state 1925 St. John’s Ukranian church established 1926 So. Glastonbury Library established by volunteers 1930 Zoning Board formed 1936 Historical Society organized 1936 WPA funds build Post Office on corner of Main Street and Hebron Avenue (completed 19370 1936 Connecticut River floods at 30 feet; crests at 37 ½ feet; 247 families evacuated 1937 Police force formed 1938 First Congregational Church built demolished by hurricane 1938 Buckingham Congregational demolished by hurricane 1938 Hurricane 1939 Last one room school house closes 1940 Federal Educational and Recreation program adds training for Air Raid Wardens, Auxiliary Police and firemen, first aid home nursing 1941 Home Defense training, Martin Roser head of Defense Council (formerly War Council) 1942 Blackouts and air raid protection 1944 Hometown News mimeographed and sent to all servicemen from Glastonbury 1946 High Street School expanded 1947 Zoning Board becomes Planning and Zoning 1947 Naubuc School expanded 1948 The Glastonbury Bulletin re-established 1948 Eastbury School built 1948 Henry Saglio awarded highest rating of nation’s purebred entries in A&P’s “Chicken of Tomorrow” contest; brothers John and Charles join to form Arbor Acres 1950 The Glastonbury Citizen established 1952 Junior/Senior High School built on Hubbard Street 1952 Welles-Turner Library opens 1954 Police Auxiliary Ambulance Assoc. established 1955 Buttonball School opens Funds appropriated to expand jr./sr. high 1957 J.B. Williams sold 1958 Glastonbury changes form Town Meeting/Selectman form of government to Council/Manager government (approx. year) 1959 Kindergarten established Federally funded program to teach modern foreign languages established 1960 Glastonbury Free Academy building demolished 1960 Glastonbury leases old Town Hall to Historical Society 1960 East Glastonbury Library established by volunteers 1960 J.B. Williams moves to New Jersey 1960 Heritage committee forms historic district (over decade) 1961 Conservation Commission established 1964 Welles-Turner Library expanded 1965 So. Congregational Church turned and enlarged 1965 Roser’s Tannery sold 1966 Football returns to GHS 1969 Roser’s Tannery closes 1969 Flannagan Bros. Buys tannery building 1970 Glastonbury Toiletries formed by former employees of J.B. Wms. 1970 Land use plan to 1986 completed 1970 Crime prevention unit formed 1970 Modern, multi-function fire house replaces old school/firehouse on corner of Main and Pratt Streets – competed 1972 1971 Redevelopment begins 1972 911 instituted, volunteer rescue squad organized 1974 St. Dunstan’s established 1981 Academy School A building becomes town offices, Town Office building becomes police department The Town Industries People Architecture Early Schools Historic Districts Home | Glastonbury History | The Museum | HSG Events | Shop Online | Links | Site Map Museum on the Green ~ 1944 Main St Glastonbury, CT 06033 ~ 860-633-6890 ~ HSGlastonbury@sbcglobal.net© 2006 Historical Society of Glastonbury, All Rights Reserved. Hosted compliments of Glastonbury-CT.com