Willimantic, Connecticut

Willimantic,Connecticut
Willimantic's town hall sports a Victorian-era clock tower
Nickname:  Thread City
County	Windham County
Government
• First Selectman	Michael T. Paulhus
Area
• Total	11.6 km2 (4.5 sq mi)
• Land	11.4 km2 (4.4 sq mi)
• Water	0.3 km2 (0.1 sq mi)
Population  (2005)
• Total	16,506
• Density	1,391/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
Website	Town of Windham, Connecticut

For the town in Maine named after this one, see Willimantic, Maine.

Willimantic is a census-designated place and city located in the town of Windham, Connecticut in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was estimated at 16,506 in 2005 and 15,823 at the 2000 census. It is home to Eastern Connecticut State University, as well as the Windham Textile and History Museum. The city was incorporated in 1893 as a section of the town of Windham. The city government was dissolved in 1983 with the area reverting back to the town.

Willimantic is also the birthplace of U.S Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

History

Willimantic is best known for its frog legend, and more recently for its "Boom Box Parade".

The "Battle of Frog Pond" was an incident in 1756 around the time of the French and Indian War. The citizens of Windham (Willimantic is located in Windham) were awakened in the middle of the night by a tremendously frightening racket just outside of town. Assuming the worst, they seized their arms and prepared for the impending Indian attack. When morning arrived, the armed villagers marched in the direction of the noise only to discover that the nearby pond had dried up, and the area was littered with hundreds of dead bullfrogs. The frogs that still lived were heading to the Willimantic River in search of water. Thus, the fearsome sounds that had plagued the citizenry the previous night had not been Indians but rather bullfrogs “fighting” for water. The pond was renamed Frog Pond, the story spread throughout the towns and colonies, 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. Giant sculptures of frogs atop spools of thread adorn a bridge next to the mill.

File:Willimantic Frog Bridge 1.jpg

Giant sculptures of frogs atop spools of thread adorn a bridge next to the mill.

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.

Willimantic has also received national and international attention for its annual Boom Box Parade. Back in 1986, with the local Windham High School marching Band having disbanded, local parade fan Kathleen Clark approached the local radio station WILI with the idea of a people’s parade. She offered her collection of vintage marching music records to the radio station with her idea that they play these patriotic marches throughout the duration of the parade. Parade goers were encouraged to bring their Boom Box radios and tune in to 1400 AM. The parade was a hit, and its unique notion of having no live music has drawn the attention of CBS Evening News and the Washington Post, among others. The parade Grand Marshal is WILI radio host and local celebrity Wayne Norman. Parade participation is equally as important as parade attendance, with the vast majority of parade participants being individual citizens or local citizens groups who simply wish to share their creativity and national pride with spectators. Other cities from Madison, WI and Lubbock, TX, to Newfane, NY and Bullhead City, AZ, have had Boom Box Parades, but none have endured or been as large as Willimantic's.

The complex that was once the American Thread Company’s Willimantic mill has been partially restored for offices and residential apartments.

Other intriguing facts about Willimantic:

• Willimantic celebrates Valentine's Day as “Romantic Willimantic.” Each year since 1982, on Valentine’s day, a local civic leader or citizen is crowned as Willimantic’s “Cupid” for his or her contributions to the city.
• Willimantic has its own local currency. Called "Thread City Bread", the currency is valid tender at a number of local businesses.
• Willimantic’s "Third Thursday" street festivals are a newer tradition, dating only to 2002. On each month’s third Thursday during spring and summer, a large section of Main Street is closed to traffic for a street fair. Different booths featuring performers, community groups, and food vendors line Main Street. The event drew between 3,000 and 6,000 attendees at each festival in its first year, and as of 2007, draws about 8,000 at each.

More recent media attention has focused on the drug problem in town. The Hartford Courant released a series of articles in October 2002 entitled Heroin Town, detailing the history of the drug use/addiction in the city. The series provoked an outraged response from the townspeople, who saw themselves as victims of, at best, yellow journalism. Resulting from the attention received by the Hartford Courant's series, a piece later aired on 60 Minutes II, also detailing the drug use in Willimantic.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.6 km² (4.5 mi²). 11.4 km² (4.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.23%) is water. Willimantic is the home of the Willimantic Footbridge (established in 1907), which is the only footbridge in the United States to connect two state highways, as well as crossing all three major forms of transportation (road, rail, and river).

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 15,823 people, 5,604 households, and 3,166 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,391.6/km² (3,607.0/mi²). There were 6,026 housing units at an average density of 530.0/km² (1,373.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 70.35% White, 6.25% African American, 0.59% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 16.87% from other races, and 4.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 30.19% of the population.

There were 5,604 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.5% were married couples living together, 18.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.5% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 22.4% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 16.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $30,155, and the median income for a family was $38,427. Males had a median income of $30,697 versus $23,297 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $15,727. About 14.6% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.7% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.

External links

Main Street, looking east, circa 1906

• Town of Windham, Connecticut
• Willimantic and Eastern Connecticut History and Tourism
• The Willimantic Frog Bridge
• History of the Windham Mills
• City data for Willimantic