Town of Windham

Facts about Windham

Town/City established:

• Incorporated in 1692.

Named from:

• The town was named after Wyndham, England.

County:

• Windham.

Notable citizens (past and present):

• Eleazar Wheelock, a Congregational minister, orator, educator, founder of Dartmouth College.
• Eliphalet Dyer, lawyer, jurist, and delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress.
• George Hewitt Cushman, engraver and painter of miniature paintings and portraits.
• Sanuel Huntington, signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederations, was the 18th Governor of Connecticut.
• Benjamin Hanks, goldsmith, instrument maker, and first maker of bronze cannons and church bells in America.

Top Five Attractions:

• Windham Textile & History Museum.
• CT Eastern Railroad Museum
• The Frog Bridge.
• Willimantic Brewing Company.
• Burton Leavitt Theatre.

Annual Visitor’s Events:

• Chocolate Festival, February.
• Victorian Days, June.
• Boom Box Parade, July.
• Third Thursday Street Festival, summer/fall.

Quality of town/city:

• Home to the Frog Bridge, Prospect Hill Neighborhood and has a large number of Victorian homes listed on the Register of Historic Places, and home of the Willimantic Thread Company famed of the first mill built for electric lights.