[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E937-E938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  MARKING THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TOWN OF PLAINFIELD, CONNECTICUT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SAM GEJDENSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 12, 1999

  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the 300th 
anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Plainfield, 
Connecticut. I join the residents of the community in celebrating this 
special occasion.
  Within only a few decades of landing at Plymouth Rock, citizens of 
the Massachusetts Bay Colony were migrating into the ``hollowing 
wilderness'' of eastern Connecticut and settling along the banks of the 
Quinebaug River. Today, it is hard to believe that Connecticut was once 
considered ``frontier'' territory, but the families who began to 
develop towns east of the Connecticut River in the 1640s and 1650s were 
pioneers well before the first Conestoga wagon set off along the Oregon 
trail. The Winthrop and Fitch families began to establish settlements 
on the Quinebaug in the mid-1650s. The Winthrop settlement on the 
eastern side of the River would ultimately become the Town of 
Plainfield when its inhabitants were granted the ``powers and 
privileges of a township'' on May 11, 1699. The name Plainfield--
bestowed by Governor Fitz-John Winthrop in 1700--can be directly traced 
to the topography of the area which is dominated by fertile meadows and 
fields.
  The development of Plainfield over the past three centuries is a 
microcosm of the history of New England and the nation as a whole. 
Plainfield was an agrarian community throughout the 1700s dotted by 
small family farms growing corn, rye, barley and other crops in the 
fertile lands surrounding the Quinebaug. Men from Plainfield joined 
colonists from across Connecticut and New England to fight for our 
independence during the Revolutionary War. The Community hosted 6,000 
troops under the command of French General Rochambeau as they traveled 
from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia to participate in the 
decisive campaign of the Revolution.
  Beginning in the first decade of the nineteenth century, Plainfield 
began a fundamental transition which would forever reshape its 
character, population, economy and culture. In many respects, the 
history of this community, and many others throughout New England, is 
defined by the development and expansion of the textile industry. And 
Plainfield was an ideal place for this industry to grow. The rivers 
which run through Plainfield, including the Moosup and Quinebaug, 
offered an ideal source of power for early mills. The Hartford-
Providence Turnpike, the major transportation route between the state 
capitals, ran through town. Moreover, Plainfield benefitted from its 
close proximity to Rhode Island--the birthplace of the factory-based 
textile industry in the United States. The early mills received 
important financial support from Rhode Island investors and utilized 
technology developed by Samuel Slater.
  The first textile mill was established in the community by the 
Plainfield Union Manufacturing Company in 1809 along the Moosup River. 
Within a decade, the company employed 74 people who produced shirts, 
sheets, bedding and other products. In the years following 1809, which 
author Christopher Bickford describes as ``those frenetic first years 
of growth of the textile industry,'' several other mills were 
established along the Moosup and Quinebaug Rivers, including one owned 
by the Moosup Manufacturing Company. By 1820, the character of 
Plaifield had changed significantly as the textile industry became more 
and more widespread.
  Over the coming decades, the textile industry would grow 
exponentially, remaking the

[[Page E938]]

community into an industrial center in Connecticut. The mills built 
during this period were multiple stories and incorporated the latest 
technological innovations. By 1840, Plainfield was home to seven cotton 
and five woolen mills. The cotton mills produced 3.2 million yards of 
cloth and employed 512 people. The woolen factories produced 110,500 
yards of cloth using nearly 300 employees. In 1840, the railroad began 
to provide service to Plainfield. This linked Plainfield to communities 
throughout New England and provided another boost to the growing 
textile sector. Using the railroad, producers could distribute their 
products to new markets more cheaply than ever before. Moreover, the 
coming of the railroad helped to encourage the development of larger 
and larger industrial facilities. The original Wauregan Mill, built in 
1853, was 250 feet long by 50 feet wide making it the largest mill in 
Plainfield by far. By 1860, this mill was the largest in Windham County 
with 425 employees who produced 3.9 million yards of various cloth 
products.

  The history of Plainfield continued to be defined in large part by 
the textile industry through the 1920s. New mills continued to be 
constructed, including facilities built by the Plainfield Woolen 
Company and another by the Central Worsted Company. The last major mill 
was built by Harold Lawton between 1906 and 1912. This was the largest 
facility ever constructed during more than a century dominated by 
continuous growth in the textile industry. The original structure was 
three stories, measured more than 250 feet long and had a 150-foot 
smokestack rising above its steam generators. Over the next six years, 
the original building was expanded twice and employment grew to 1,200. 
These developments in the early part of this century prompted the 
Providence Sunday Journal to write in 1912 that ``Plainfield has been 
transformed from a quiet farming community into one of the busiest mill 
villages hereabouts.'' The transformation of Plainfield from a frontier 
outpost into an industrial center was complete.
  The residents of Plainfield have triumphed over a series of 
challenges throughout the twentieth century. They survived the Great 
Depression which dramatically reduced employment in the Town's mills. 
Young men from the Town served their nation bravely in two world wars, 
Korea, Vietnam and other military actions around the world. The 
community developed new industries in the 1950s and 1960s during a 
period in which economic forces beyond its control shifted textile 
manufacturing to the southern United States and overseas. During this 
period, new manufacturers, including Kaman Corporation and C&M Wire, 
moved to old mill buildings and contributed to economic diversification 
and revitalization.
  Mr. Speaker, a yet to be published book documenting Plainfield's long 
history is appropriately titled: ``Plainfield Transformed: Three 
Centuries of Life in a Connecticut Town.'' Over the past three hundred 
years, the community has been transformed from a frontier outpost to a 
center of textile manufacturing to the town we see today. As the 
residents celebrate their past, they look to the future with optimism 
and a strong sense of community. I know that our grandchildren and 
their children will mark Plainfield's 400th Anniversary with the pride 
we feel today.

                          ____________________