One of the side benefits of doing research is the number of interesting facts (and trivia) that show up. This week, we’ll check out four. (1) For years, the Brainard House was Willimantic’s leading Hotel. “Henry Brainard had retired from the teaming business and  bought Mr. Potter’s hotel, the Tremont, now Young’s Hotel, in 1846”. He did business there until he bought out the Lewis property and opened a new hotel under the name of the Brainard House, which he kept for a number of years until his retirement to his pleasant home on Maple Avenue. Brainard had built the house when Maple Avenue was first opened and “it has been kept in excellent condition, being almost the only brick residence of any size in the city”. In April, 1894, Mayor Harrington bought the house and the next lot east. Harrington went on the be a State Senator. In 1903, Harrington sold the house to the Rev. Arthur DeBruycker, pastor of Saint Mary’s Church. Father DeBruycker “at once (began) such alterations as are necessary for the home of the seventeen sisters who are connected with the church and schools of Saint Mary Parish.
(2) Some Willimantic area folks may remember Main Street when the trolley tracks were still visible. While most folks know that Willimantic once had a trolley that ran along Main Street, few may know the extent of the ambitious original plan at the time the legislature approved it. The line in Willimantic was supposed to begin at the city’s west end and run along Main Street to the Horseshoe Bridge, and from the junction of Union and Main through Union Street to Broad Street and then to Valley Street. Other sections were planned (a) from Main and Windham Streets, up Windham Street to Prospect Street (b) along Valley Street from Windham Street to Jackson Street. (c) Along Walnut Street from Prospect to Main. (d) Along Jackson Street from Valley Street to the city line at Mansfield. The trolley line DID run from Thread Mill Square to the city line and beyond in South Windham but another “spur” had been planned from what was known as “Jillson Hill”, along Pleasant Street to the city line and from the Pleasant Street, Bridge Street junction along Bridge Street back to Main Street.
(3) When “moving pictures” first came to Willimantic, it was during the time when Blue Laws were still somewhat enforced. When movies began to be shown on Sundays, some groups protested. For example, The 1907 enforcement of “Blue Laws” in Willimantic was brought on by the Womens’ Christian Temperance Movement which brought charges against Manager John Gray of the Loomer Opera House. Citizens, however, were unhappy with all the closings. At the time there were four “movie houses” in the city and some people proposed an “arrangement” where the theaters could have a Sunday night opening. Sunday night performances would not interfere with church services. The “arrangement” was that “much help could be procured for the poor and needy of the community during the winter”  if the theaters would turn over to the proper authorities the proceeds of their Sunday night shows, after expenses, and the proceeds spent for those in need. “By having such Sunday night entertainments, many people would spend an hour in innocent amusement and contribute financially towards the support of the poor”.

4) One of my favorites was a story during the smallpox epidemic of 1912. Willimantic was doing everything it could to help those who suffered from it. It opened a special isolation hospital (today’s photo) and offered sufferers generous assistance from the town. One family, however, presented the town with a hefty bill that caused suspicion. They had received, “pork, lamb and steak…ninety-five cans of vegetables, two dozen eggs daily, a pound of the best butter and a lot of other things”. It was said that the First Selectman “did not feel kindly” about this and could not believe the family had eaten so much. He and Chief Richmond went to the home and searched it. “There were three large hams hanging in the cellar. There were over twenty-five cans of vegetables…”. The woman told Selectman Mitchell that she was doing it, “because her friends told her to go ahead and stock up. The town would pay and no one would kick”. Since there were six cases of smallpox in the house, the goods were left there since no one would want them.