Last week we paused at 138 Valley Street, the building that eventually became the home of what many, even today, remember as Watson’s Taxi and Watson’s Moving and Storage. By 1892, three more brick structures were erected between 138 Valley Street and Bank Street. 140-144 Valley Street was a three-story building with shops on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors. The shops belonged to Whitaker and Cady Grocers and Meat. It later became home to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. 146 Valley Street was built as the Park Central Hotel. 152 Valley Street was built by William Vanderman as part of his growing manufacturing business. Later, it was home to to J. B. Carpenter’s Plumbing Co. and the W.G. Potter Oil Burner Co. The last lot, on the southeast corner of Bank and Valley Streets was occupied for a time by the Willimantic Water Department. Later, a brick building was erected and became home to the Cotter Brothers Garage and then Capitol Garage. Many older residents may remember when it was the home of Leonard Motors. On the southeast corner of Bank and Valley Streets was A.G. Turner’s Silk Mill. This industry was started in 1886, and the mill was built in 1889. It employed about 100 people. The company went into liquidation in 1917, and was later used by the Willimantic Trade School. It was demolished in 1970. In 1892, there were three more buildings between Turner’s Mill and Walnut Street. There was a house at 174 Valley Street and then a large building owned by the A.R. Burnham Carriage Manufacturers. The last was a paper box shop run by A. Kingsbury and Son. 174 Valley Street to Walnut Street would later become occupied by the O.L. Willard Lumber Company. The First Congregational Church and Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church occupied diagonal corners at Walnut and Valley Streets as they do today. Grog Shop owner Thomas Cunningham gave the northeast lot to the First Ecclesiastical Society. The Rev. Horace Winslow was chiefly instrumental in getting the society to build the new church at the corner of Walnut and Valley streets, dedicated in May, 1871, thanks to the generous donation of funds from the borough's wealthiest Congregationalists. It lost its fine spire in the 1938 hurricane. In 1883 the first St. Paul's Church was erected at the present site. It was a gingerbread style church, which came in three sections from Central Village.  The present church was built in 1912. Remaining on the south side of Valley Street, we’ll head to the block between High and Windham Streets. This was taken up by three dwellings and, at Windham Street, the First District School which had been moved from its original location near Bridge Street and then had been enlarged. There were two other school buildings just south of this school on Windham Street. In 1908 several buildings were cleared for a new school building to be used jointly by the state and the town. It opened in 1909 as “The Model School”. It burned in 1924 and was replaced by a new building in 1928.  The Model School would later become known as “F.R. Noble School”. We’ll end our tour on the northeast corner of Valley Windham Streets. In 1888, there was talk of the state building a new Normal School and Willimantic’s leaders decided to “secure” it for Willimantic. The committee did a fine job and the state decided on the Willimantic site in 1889. A “site committee” with authority to purchase was formed and looked at several sites on both sides of the river. The Windham and Valley Streets site was chosen and cobbled together from purchased land known as “the Chase lot”, from land donated by the Windham Cotton Manufacturing Company and the rest already belonging to Windham County. The Normal School opened in 1895. Newspaper articles gave high praise for the school’s location, saying it was,” on a pleasant elevation with a large grove of stately oaks in the rear. (The site) overlooks the picturesque valley of the Willimantic River”. The original school burned in a spectacular 1943 fire and was replaced. There were two houses situated on the northwest corner of Valley and High Streets. One was razed and the brick one remains today. When the Normal was built, Valley Street had been extended to Windham Street. Eventually it was extended again to Mansfield Avenue and finally to West Avenue.

UPDATE:
I received a nice note from Karen Woodward  from Chaplin, CT in regard to the "A. Kingsbury and Son" business mentioned in this article. Here is what she wrote:

"I enjoyed the article about the buildings/businesses on Valley St in the late 1800's.  In particular was "a paper box shop run by A. Kingsbury and Son".  I thought you might enjoy a little more information.

That would be Addison Kingsbury (a distant relative on my mothers side) a nephew of my Great Great Grandfather.  His "Son" would be Arthur L. and/or Louis Addison Kingsbury.

Addison lived in South Coventry.  

"Addison Kingsbury is one of the most noted and successful paper box manufacturers in New England.  The business includes the product from five factories, which are located in South Coventry, Rockville, New London and Willimantic...and Northampton Mass.  Mr. Kingsbury is the inventor of the machine for cutting the blanks for the boxes...Millions of boxes are now turned out annually by aid of the machinery devised by Mr. Kingsbury" **  (He also invented a gluing machine and a machine for cutting box blanks.)

**Taken from: The Genealogy of the Descendants of Henry Kingsbury of Ipswich and Haverhill, Mass.  From collections made by Frederick John Kingsbury, LL.D. and edited with extensive additions by Mary Kingsbury Talcott.  1905"

Also included was a photo of Mr. Kingsbury.

Click on photo to see larger version