Tom Beardsley wrote the following article 21 years ago. During those 21 years, it has changed even further. This week's photograph depicts a section of Willimantic almost unrecognizable today. The cameraman situated himself along the eastern side of Church Street, and aimed his camera to the northwest. He captured four structures on the west side of Church Street in a location today occupied by the Windham Courthouse and a parking lot.  Also note Prospect Hill in the background, almost totally undeveloped. The photograph was taken sometime between the end of the Civil War and 1873. These dates are verifiable because town records reveal that Church and Valley streets were not laid until 1866-67, and the west mill of the Holland Silk Co. was not built until 1873, on the northwest corner of Valley and Church. The photograph reveals a wooden structure in that location. The first structure actually erected was the Methodist Church in 1851, thus giving the future thoroughfare its name, The four Church Street structures pictured are, from left to right, a paper storage facility that also housed a barbershop and a grocery store; a box-making factory (the Sanborn Insurance maps inform us that glue in the box factory was heated over tin kerosene lamps); the Town Hall and jail; and Warren Atwood’s sash and blind factory. Atwood’s stone factory was later occupied by The Willimantic Steam Laundry, and in 1873 it was home to the Paisley Silk and Thread Co.  On June 22, 1865, the Willimantic Journal reported that "Church Street, north of the Methodist Church, is being graded down to almost a level, making it much more agreeable to pass over. This is destined to be quite a thoroughfare."  In the summer of 1873, many towns in the New England area were suffering from outbreaks of cholera. This led to a demand for more sewerage in the borough. The Journal petitioned for a sewer from High Street to Church Street “to accommodate, the people owning property on Valley street and between Main and  Valley who have no place  whatsoever to drain their  waste or other water except for  standing cesspools." The sewer was laid, and soon after the borough laid concrete sidewalks along the street. In 1879, the Chaffees of Mansfield purchased Atwood‘s stone factory, demolished it  and built a brick silk mill. In 1882, the borough extended Church Street north beyond Prospect Street and extended Summit Street east from Chestnut street to intersect with Church Street. The Chronicle reported that "there is a stubborn ledge requiring a great deal of blasting," and that, "along the line of this extension are some of the very best building lots in the village and  we believe they have all been  sold to parties intending to  build on them. At the present time there are five dwellings in the process of being erected within a distance of 20 rods  and others are contemplated.  The man who owns property in that section suitable for building purposes is fortunate indeed for it is the place all others in this section for a pleasant and beautiful home.”  By 1880, Church Street was becoming a beehive of business activities and it was thought that it may even rival Main Street. The Chronicle editorialized that, “The low rents and central location of Church Street, are attracting business men as well as buyers to that street. The latest attraction is the neat and well-arranged grocery store of Deacon Gillette in Bingham's block. Mr. Gillette has fixed his prices in accordance with his very small expenses and he has a clerk that knows how to wait upon his customers. In 1883, Charles Congdon completed a large new building on the street. There were three storefronts in the first story, each “60 feet deep by 20 feet wide, light and airy, with plate glass fronts.” Also, a tenement of 7 rooms in second story. On April 6, 1887, the Chronicle built a new printworks and offices on Church Street, and five years later that same newspaper was pleased to report that the borough was to pave Main, Railroad, Church, and North streets with granite blocks

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