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Willimantic is a village〔(Principal Communities in Connecticut ), Dept. of Economic and Community Development〕 and census-designated place located in the town of Windham in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was at 17,737 at the 2010 census. It is home to Eastern Connecticut State University, as well as the Windham Textile and History Museum. Willimantic was incorporated as a city in 1893; the city was superseded in 1983 by the Willimantic Special Services District. It is also the birthplace of former U.S Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. ==History== Willimantic is an Algonquian term for "land of the swift running water". Prior to 1821, the village was known as Willimantic Falls, home to about twenty families and a single school district. In 1822, Charles Lee erected a factory on Main Street made of stone quarried from the Willimantic River. Although small shops and manufacturers had been built on the banks of the Willimantic before, this was the beginning of industrialized Willimantic. In 1825, the three Jillson brothers built a factory along the Willimantic, and in 1827, they built a second building. By 1828, there were six cotton factories in Willimantic, all built within a seven year span. Willimantic became known as "Thread City" because American Thread Company had a mill 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. Its factory was the first in the world to use electric lighting.〔 In 1833, Willimantic was a borough of Windham; in 1893, it would become a city. From the end of the Civil War to the outbreak of World War II, Willimantic was a center for the production of silk and cotton thread. Immigrants from Europe arrived to work in the mills—Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans and French Canadians. Later, Estonian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Puerto Rican immigrants moved to the town in search of mill jobs. Railroads added to the growth of Willimantic; the town was one of only a handful of stops between Boston and New York on the high-speed "White Train" of the 1890s.〔(Air Line Rail Trail - History )〕 In the early 20th century, between 50 and 100 trains ran through Willimantic daily.〔("Transportation, Railroads and the Mills" )〕 More than 800 ornate Victorian homes multiplied in the town's Prospect Hill section, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town prospered, growing from a population of less than 5,000 in 1860 to more than 12,100 by 1910.〔http://www.threadcity.org/61/?form_58.replyids=7&form_62.replyids=164&form_62.userid=3 〕 But hard times followed; American Thread moved to North Carolina in 1985〔(University of Connecticut: "American Thread Company Records" )〕 and without it, the town's economy floundered. In 1983, the city and the town consolidated and became one town again. The unemployment rate in Windham, the town that contains Willimantic was 7.8% as of December, 2014.〔(Current Labor Force Data for Connecticut Towns (LAUS) - State of Connecticut )〕 In 2002, ''The Hartford Courant'' ran a controversial investigative series called "Heroin Town" describing rampant heroin use in Willimantic, disproportionate to the town's small size. The articles roiled local residents, but a task force was appointed by the state to study the issue. In addition, The Hotel Hooker, once known for drug use and prostitution, has been repurposed as a transitional living facility called the Seth Chauncy Hotel.〔(American Journalism Review: "The Truth Hurts )〕 The Hotel was later renamed Windham house, and now has been closed. Today, several projects aiming to revitalize the town are under way. The Willimantic Whitewater Partnership〔(Willimantic Whitewater Partnership )〕 plans to reclaim the town's riverfront by developing a whitewater park and research facility. Some of the town's distressed factory buildings have been turned into residential space for artists by Artspace.〔(Artspace )〕 Efforts to attract high-tech businesses to the area have turned other former factory buildings into space for small technology startups.〔http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2002/01/28/story35-Willimantic-hopes-companies-will-leap-to-tech-center.html "Willimantic hopes companies will leap to tech center"〕 Image:PostcardWillimanticCTBirdsEyeView1908.jpg|Bird's-eye view in 1908 Image:PostcardWillimanticCTMainStreetLookingEastCirca1906.jpg|Main Street c. 1906 Image:American Thread Co. Mill.jpg|Mill No. 1 c. 1912 Image:PostcardWillimanticCTPostOfficeCA1913.jpg|Post Office c. 1913 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Willimantic, Connecticut」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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