One enjoyable benefit of doing historical research is finding out facts and information about the growth of and changes to and within a town. As an example, we’ll look this week at the area of Willimantic bordered by Main, Walnut, Meadow and Bank Streets. Today, the buildings on the north side of Main Street are pretty much the same as they have been since the Nathan Hale Hotel was built in 1926. And before the Nathan Hale, the only change had been the tearing down of the Johnson House and a building between it and the Hooker House to make way for the Nathan Hale. But excepting the Main Street buildings, that entire block has changed completely over the years. In the mid-1960s I had a paper route along the whole length of Walnut Street and included Meadow Street. Just north of the building that was once the Victorian Lady was the entrance to a municipal parking lot that took up the center of the block. There were four more houses on Walnut Street, seven on the south side of Meadow Street, and a house and two businesses on Bank Street. In the 60s, I had no idea about the huge changes that had already occurred before the municipal parking lot was put in. My research began in the Library of Congress website where there are several years-worth of Sanborn Fire Insurance maps available for download. The Sanborn map of 1897 showed buildings along each of the four streets that formed the perimeter of the block. However, there were several driveways and alleyways that led to the interior of the block which contained 3 wooden commercial buildings, 6 dwellings and a multitude of sheds/storage buildings. By 1914 the interior section had become even more crowded. A livery stable building on Bank Street had been enlarged into the area and several more sheds had been erected. One wooden building had been replaced by a larger brick structure which became the Natchaug Garage, and a second brick structure, which became the Thread City garage, was also added. But in 1915, a spectacular fire 1915 destroyed the two garages, several smaller wooden garages and large storage sheds and severely damaged the Johnson House Hotel. The Thread City Garage rebuilt and remained in business until sometime in the 1930s. The fire dramatically changed the interior of that city block. Now, about a quarter of the interior had become open space. Over the next ten years, the open space began to be used for parking for a couple of Main Street businesses and then the Nathan Hale Hotel. Now, let’s go back to Walnut Street where the entrance to the Municipal Parking Lot was. I was finally able to find out why there was such a large open space along the street. J.M. Hall (who built the Victorian Lady building on the corner) owned a large wooden building known as “The Arcade” which abutted his new brick building. On the ground floor of the building were four business (including a bakery) and there were apartments on the second floor. (See today’s photo. Brick buildings are in pink. The fire building is circled.)  On December 28, 1899, less than a week after Charles E. Leonard had been appointed to the Fire Chief position, the building was discovered to be on fire. The blaze was discovered about 8 A.M. by a night worker. The Alerts, Montgomeries and Hooks were quick to arrive on the scene and were soon joined by the Hilltop Hose company. The Sarah Way Bakery was fully involved when the firefighters arrived. The fire burned through partitions to other stores and then through the ceiling to the upper floor. The firefighters had an extremely hard time since they could get at the flames only from the exterior but also because the day was so cold and the hoses and ladders became coated with ice. And, most of the Hilltop Company still did not have proper gear. But, for those who had gear, “their rubber coats were coated with ice wherever the water hit them but the boys did not complain and worked on through the cold and ice and did credible work”. However, the building was completely ruined and was torn down. An interesting note is that Mrs. Sarah Way then moved her bakery to 931 Main Street. In June, 1903, the bakery was again gutted by fire when the donut maker was about to fry some crullers and some towels above the stove caught fire. The building, known then as the Flaherty Block and in the 1950-60s as the Mazzola Block was saved by the quick actions of the firefighters.

By 1915 the building went back to being a simple livery stable run by Dana Morton. By 1930, the new ways had taken over and the location was used by Chauncey McFarlane Autos. In 1935 the site had become the “Club Paradise Restaurant and by 1944 it was vacant. By 1948 either a new or renovated building housed Roy Motors. Roy Motors stayed there until 1969 when the building went vacant again and by 1974, it was gone…..lost to the redevelopment plan