Bird's Eye View of Willimantic 3 by Tom Beardsley 7-6-2024 |
Today’s photo is a section from the 1882 Bird’s Eye View and shows
Pleasant Street some 30 years before the armory was built. To the left
is the Congregational Church on Valley Street. The smoke on the right
comes from the chimneys of the Holland and Chaffee silk mills. (see full
map at threadcity.us)
The artist, was William A. (Wils) Porter (1842 - 1909). He was
born in Worcester, England and was educated at the South Kensington
Museum in London, and taught in the Art Department of Philadelphia's
Spring Garden Institute for more than thirty years. The Willimantic
Chronicle announced on May 10, 1882 that a New York artist had just
completed a pencil sketch of Willimantic for the purpose of, ". . .
engraving a birds eye view of the village. It will differ from the one
already in existence by representing a perfect draft of each house and
by being more extensive and elaborate. Some of the principle buildings
will be engraved separately and printed in the margin of the picture. It
will be ready for distribution about the 1st of July. "The picture was
ready in time, but not to everyone's satisfaction. The Chronicle
announced on July 5 that, ". . . a dubious picture of Willimantic has
been produced by a professional artist and is being delivered to
subscribers who bought without seeing the goods. It is difficult to
decipher whether the picture was made to represent Willimantic or
Halifax, if we judge from the likeness." The following week, the
Chronicle reported that, ". . .with a few exceptions the subscribers for
the picture meant to illustrate Willimantic refused to accept the
worthless portrait which had been executed and those who did received it
under protest. The artist doubtless regards that imposition as a
profitless adventure." The drawing, lithographing and publishing of
bird’s eye views was so competitive that standards did suffer, but the
discriminating public expected more for their money. The fact that
Porter produced so few bird's eye views was probably a reflection of the
inaccuracy of his work. Judging by the negative coverage in the
Chronicle, the artist made no attempt to check the accuracy of his work
with Willimantic's inhabitants - a standard procedure in the business.
Porter was only active as a city view artist during 1881 - 82 when he
producing five views, Meriden, CT., Middletown CT., and Altoona & Tyrone
PA., during 1881, and Bridgeport and Willimantic in 1882. Gloria Deak
has put together an extensive catalogue of urban views of the USA,
entitled the Picturing America Catalogue. There are no entries for the
1876 or 1909 Willimantic views, but the controversial 1882 view is
described in some detail. It is described below. "Willimantic lies in a
picturesque valley about 24 miles southeast of Hartford and is part of
Connecticut's Windham County. Its location at the junction of the
Willimantic and Natchaug rivers - which meet to form the Shetucket River
- gave it the water power necessary for it to prosper as a mill town.
Its first cotton spinning facilities date back to 1822 and since that
time it has earned the name Thread City. We see from the lithograph that
in 1882 Willimantic's factories were at a high point of activity; the
opening of three railroad lines had had an immediate impact. Across the
whole plane of the drawing, vertical columns of smoke rise higher than
the church steeples, indicative of increasing industrialization. The
twenty vignettes surrounding the valley scene offer a closer look at
some of the industries as well as some of the important buildings. Four
vignettes are devoted to a principal source of the New England town's
prosperity: the Willimantic Linen Company. We are shown its no 1, No. 2,
and no. 4 mills, as well as the company's large store. The upper
vignettes are flanked by the Congregational Church at the left and St
Joseph's Catholic Church at the right. The lower insets focus on several
prominent residences, the Loomer Opera House, a hotel, a savings bank,
and a savings institution." Artist Wils Porter chose to depict
Willimantic at eye level rather than from the aerial perspective that
was the vogue among viewmakers in the 1880s. He also sought to make his
urban image more attractive by appearing to integrate the building close
ups in the top and bottom margins with the cityscape itself. This he
does by presenting only the thinnest of borders between the central
image and the vignettes. <<TO SEE FULL MAP, CLICK HERE>> |
<<HOME>> <<back to Historical Articles index>> |