Windsor,_Connecticut

Windsor, Connecticut

Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population was estimated at 28,778 in 2005.

Poquonock is a northern area of Windsor that has its own zip code (06064) for PO Box purposes. Other areas in Windsor, which are not incorporated, include Rainbow and Hayden in the north, and Wilson and Deerfield in the south.

The Day Hill Road area is know as Windsor's Corporate Area, although other centers of business include Kennedy Industry Park and Kennedy Business Park, both near Bradley International Airport and the Addison Road Industrial Park.

History

The Pequot and Mohawk were at war, catching the Podunk in the crossfire and forcing them to pay tribute to the Pequots, who claimed their land.

The Sicaog tribe made a similar offer to the Dutch in New Amsterdam, but they declined to send settlers, since their interest in Connecticut was limited to the fur trade.

A small party of settlers from Plymouth, Massachusetts, founded a trading post at Windsor after the Podunk Indians invited them to provide a mediating force between other tribes, and granted them a plot of land. After Edward Winslow from Plymouth inspected the site, William Holmes led a small party there. This initial group arrived at Windsor on September 26, 1633, settling at the confluence of the Farmington and the west side of the Connecticut Rivers. They were about 50 miles up river at the end of ship navigable waters and above the Dutch fort at Hartford. They were in a good position to trade with the Indians before the Dutch. More settlers arrived in 1635 led by the Revs Maverick and Warham with about 60 people who trekked overland from Dorchester, Massachusetts where they had first settled after coming on the ship "Mary and John" to the New World from Plymouth, England in 1630. More settlers from Dorchester moved to Windsor in the next few years. Out numbering the original settlers they soon displaced the original Plymouth settlers, who mostly returned to Plymouth.

Native Americans referred to the area as Matianuck. (book- "Dorset Pilgrims" by Frank Thistlewaite) Reverend Warham renamed the settlement Dorechester in 1635. In 1637, the colony's General Court changed the name to Windsor.

Windsor's name is believed to be named after the city of Windsor England on the Thames River. Windsor is believed to be a corruption of the Saxon words 'windlass Oran' meaning a bank of a river with a windlass. The name of Windsor derives from Windlesore, or 'Winding Shores' where boats were pulled by windlass ('windles') up the river. As with all such names that date back many centuries, there are other claims as to the derivation of the name. It has also been thought that the name derived from 'winding' meaning 'meandering' shores. A third school of thought stemmed from the belief that the name derived from 'a sore wind' referring to the wind that blew across the mound upon which Windsor Castle, England was built but this fails on chronological grounds.

Several towns that border Windsor were once entirely or partially part of Windsor including: Windsor Locks; South Windsor; East Windsor; Ellington, (which was later part of East Windsor); and Bloomfield, (originally called "Wintonbury"; a composite of the town names Windsor, Farmington and Simsbury).

The first "highway" in Connecticut opened in 1638 between Windsor and Hartford. As other towns were settled further up the Connecticut river like Springfield, Massachusetts and Northampton, Massachusetts trading routes were extended to all of them. Hartford & Springfield Street Railway connected with the Conn. Co. in Windsor Center until 1925. Buses replaced trolleys between Rainbow (a northern section of Windsor) and Windsor Center in 1930; cars continued to run from Windsor to Hartford until 1940.

These original Windsor settlers have many descendants around the country and beyond. Many are members of The Descendants of the Founders of Ancient Windsor (DFAW) based in the Windsor area.

Historical Society

The Windsor Historical Society manages a collection of old homesteads that have existed since the 17th and 18th centuries and are available for tour.

On historic Palisado Avenue, one can find the First Church In Windsor, Congregational and adjacent graveyard.

Across the street on the Palisado green stands a statue of John Mason (a founder of Windsor and colonial leader in the Pequot War).

Further down the road is the home of Oliver Ellsworth, second Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

The town center is well-planned in comparison to many of the others in the Greater Hartford area, including a relative diversity of chains and local shops, as well as a recently restored Amtrak station that dates to the 1850s.

The Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut is also located in Windsor.

National Register of Historic Places

Allyn, Capt. Benjamin, II, House - 119 Deerfield Rd. (added 1979-06-26)
Barber, Giles, House - 411--413 Windsor Avenue Connecticut Route 159 (added 1988-09-15)
Bissell Tavern-Bissell's Stage House - 1022 Palisado Avenue Connecticut Route 159 (added 1985-08-23)
Broad Street Green Historic District - Roughly along Broad Street Connecticut Route 159 from Batchelder Rd. to Union St. (added 1999-12-30)
Case, Benomi, House - 436 Rainbow Rd. (added 1988-09-15)
Chaffee, Hezekiah, House - Meadow Lane, off Palisado Green (added 1972-07-31)
Chapman, Taylor, House - 407 Palisado Avenue Connecticut Route 159 (added 1988-09-15)
Ellsworth, Horace H., House - 316 Palisado Avenue Connecticut Route 159 (added 1988-09-15)
Ellsworth, Oliver, Homestead - 778 Palisado Avenue Connecticut Route 159 (added 1970-10-06)
Farmington River Railroad Bridge - Spans Farmington River and Pleasant St. W of Palisado Ave. (added 1972-08-25)

Connecticut Shade Tobacco

Tobacco farming in Connecticut has a long and illustrious history. When the first settlers came to the valley in the 1630s, tobacco was already being grown by the native population. By 1700, tobacco was being exported via the Connecticut River to European ports. The use of Connecticut tobacco as a cigar wrapper leaf began in the 1820s. By the 1830s, tobacco farmers were experimenting with different seeds and processing techniques.

Area farmers grew tobacco for the two outside layers of cigars, the binder and the wrapper. A tobacco leaf type named Shoestring, then Broadleaf and Havana Seed were used. In the late 1800s a fine grained leaf type imported from Sumatra began to replace the wrapper from the Connecticut River valley. The tobacco farmers matched the Sumatran leaf by making shade tents of cloth to cut sunlight and raise humidity. The first tent was raised in 1900 on River Street in Windsor. Windsor tobacco leaves are highly prized by fine cigar makers, and are used as the cigar's outer wrapping. The former president of U.S. operations for Davidoff, a Swiss maker of luxury goods company including premium Cuban cigars, praised Connecticut shade tobacco as "A nice Connecticut wrapper" and "…very silky, very fine. From a marketing point of view, it is considered at the moment to be one of the best tasting and looking wrappers available" in a Cigar Aficionado article on why the world's best cigars use Connecticut tobacco wrapper leaves.

The technique of growing shade tobacco has changed little in the past hundred years. To form the shade tents, a tobacco field is set with posts in a grid layout. Wires are stretched from post to post, and a light, durable fabric (once cotton but now a synthetic fiber) is tied across them and draped along the sides. For example, twenty posts in four rows of five will create twelve square cells in three rows of four. Two guy-wires hold up Under the tents the sunlight is soft and diffused the air is humid and the ambient temperature is slightly warmer than outside. Filtering the sun produces a thinner and more elastic tobacco leaf that cures to a lighter, even color.

At its height, there was greater than 15,000 acres of tobacco being cultivated under shade in the Connecticut River valley. Currently, the amount of tobacco being grown in the valley is just over a steady 2,000 acres. Approximately 34,000 acres (140 km²) of land in Connecticut is covered by Windsor Soil, named after the town.

While much of the Day Hill Road section of town has been given over to industry, the long red wooden sheds that are used to store and dry the tobacco are still noticeable. The Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum containing authentic farming implements and tools can be found at Northwest Park located in Windsor.

Windsor Today

Education

One public school for pre-school and kindergarten: Roger Wolcott Early Childhood Center,

Four public elementary schools (Grades 1-5): Oliver Ellsworth Elementary School, Clover Street Elementary School, John F. Kennedy Elementary School, and Poquonock Elementary School,

One public middle school (Grades 6-8): Sage Park Middle School and

One public high school (Grades 9-12): Windsor High School.

Two public libraries: Windsor Public Library and Wilson Public Library

Loomis Chaffee, the well-known college preparatory school is located in Windsor, on a 320 acre (1.3 km²) campus at the confluence of the Connecticut and Farmington rivers.

Saint Gabriel's School is a private school that teaches grades kindergarten through eighth.

Trinity Christian School is a private school that teaches grades kindergarten through seventh.

Praise, Power, Prayer Christian School is a private school that teaches grades kindergarten through twelfth.

Branford Hall Career Institute is located on Day Hill Road.

Baran Institute of Technology is located on Day Hill Road.

Parks

Windsor Meadows State Park is in the south east corner of town. The park runs down the shore of the Connecticut River.

Keney Park, in the south, straddles Windsor and Hartford; it includes Cricket Fields and a Golf Course.

Northwest Park, Windsor's largest park, is located in the northwest corner of Windsor. It includes a nature center, trails and a petting zoo.

Welch Park is in the neighborhood of Poquonock on the Farmington River. Welch Park is home to a public pool and numerous baseball diamonds, along with a small playground.

Stroh Park is off of Route 159 near Wilson Congregational Church towards the south end of town. Stroh Park is home to a public pool, tennis courts, a playground, and a pond.

Strawberry Hills Park is located on River Street. A popular location in the summer months for those interested in canoeing and kayaking the Farmington River.

Events

The Northwest Park Country Fair is held every fall.

The 23rd Annual Columbus Day Soccer Tournament will be held Columbus Day weekend, October 2008. Players ages 9-14 participate from the area.

Entertainment

Tradition Golf Club.

Keney Park Golf Club.

Religion

Hopewell Baptist Church, 280 Windsor Avenue.

Windsor Home Church, 271 Rainbow Road.

Pilgrim Way Baptist Church, 19 Columbia Road.

Grace Baptist Church, 830 Marshall Phelps Road.

Greater St. Paul's Baptist Church of Deliverance, 12 Windsor Avenue.

Saint Gabriel's Church, Roman Catholic, 379 Broad Street.

Saint Gertrude's Church, Roman Catholic, 550 Matianuck Avenue.

Saint Joseph's Church, Roman Catholic, 1747 Poquonock Avenue.

The First Church in Windsor, United Church of Christ, 107 Palisado Avenue.

Poquonock Community Church, United Church of Christ, 1817 Poquonock Avenue.

Wilson Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, 691 Windsor Avenue.

Holy Zion Church of the Jubilee, Nondenominational, 235 Palisado Avenue.

Mount Carmel Christian Ministries, Nondenominational, 599 Matianuck Avenue.

Faith Community Church, 100 Pigeon Hill Road.

Grace Episcopal Church, 311 Broad Street.

Archer Memorial AME Zion Church, African Methodist Episcopal, 321 Hayden Station Road.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 180 Park Avenue.

Christ the King Lutheran Church, 465 Park Avenue.

Congragation Beth Ahm, Jewish, 362 Palisado Avenue.

River of Life Christian Church, 500 Bloomfield Avenue.

Tohrah Judea, 452 Bloomfield Avenue
Connecticut Valley Church of Christ, 61 Cook Hill Road.

Praise Power & Prayer Temple, Pentecostal, 209 Kennedy Road.

Islamic Center of Connecticut, 68 White Rock Drive.

Transportation

Bradley International Airport, which serves Greater Hartford as well as the greater Pioneer Valley, is located in the adjacent town of Windsor Locks to the north.

The '30' and '34' lines of Connecticut Transit (CT Transit) Buses runs between Hartford and Bradley International Airport through Windsor, while the '32' line connects Windsor's town center to Hartford. The '36' line and an extension of the 'T' line serves the Day Hill corridor, and the '15' line provides express service from the Poquonock park and ride to downtown Hartford.

Interstate 91 has 7 exits in Windsor, including an High Occupancy Vechicle (HOV) Lane travelling north and south between Hartford and the Bradley International Airport Connector, Route 20.

Interstate 291 (Connecticut) begins in Windsor with 3 exits; it connects Interstate 91 with Interstate 84 (east).

A single train line runs along the Connecticut River through Windsor, with one stop for Amtrak trains in Windsor's Center.

Safety

Windsor Police Department is located at the Windsor Safety Complex, in the middle of town, next to I-91, on Bloomfield Avenue.

Windsor Volunteer Fire Department has 5 stations: Windsor Station (at the Windsor Safety Complex), Wilson Station, Poquonock Station, Rainbow Road Station and Hayden Station.

Windsor Volunteer Ambulance is also located at the Windsor Safety Complex.

Large and Distinctive Companies

ABB Inc. -- Formerly known as Combustion Engineering is located at 2000 Day Hill Road in Windsor.

Advo, Inc. -- The country's largest direct mail company has its headquarters in Windsor.

Aetna, Inc. -- Maintains a back office on Addison Road in Windsor.

ALSTOM Power, Inc. -- North America corporate headquarters located at 2000 Day Hill Road in Windsor.

American Airlines, Inc. -- Has a reservations office on Day Hill Road.

Culbro Tobacco -- Operates and maintains land that produces Connecticut shade tobacco along the Day Hill Road corporate area corridor.

Stanadyne Corporation -- Maintains its headquarters in Windsor.

SS&C Technologies, Inc. -- Has its corporate headquarters at 80 Lamberton Road in Windsor.

Spencer Turbine -- Is headquartered at 600 Day Hill Road in Windsor.

Travelers Companies -- Maintains a back office within the Day Hill Road corporate area on Lamberton Road.

Mototown USA -- Recently opened in 2006. At over 200,000 square feet, the complex is a large indoor motocross facility.

Konica Minolta, Inc. -- Maintains its Bizhub business location on Day Hill Road.

Unisource Worldwide -- Has a distribution center located on Day Hill Road.

LIMRA -- Research company for the insurance/financial services industry, headquartered in Windsor on Day Hill Road.

Westinghouse Electric Company -- The company has offices at 16 and 20 International Drive for its Nuclear Services and Nuclear Power Plants Divisions. It also has a Nuclear Fuels Division components manufacturing facility on Addison Rd.

Northeast Utilities -- Has a service center located on Day Hill Road.

ING Group -- Back office location is within the Day Hill Road Corporate Area.

The Hartford -- Back office is located at the corner of Day Hill Road and Blue Hills Avenue.

TLD -- Manufacturer of aircraft ground support equipment and accessories.

Hotels/Lodging

Hilton Garden Inn -- Located in the Day Hill Road Corporate Area. at 230 feet.

Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott-- Located in the Day Hill Road Corporate Area. There is also a Residence Inn towards the town center in Windsor.

Hyatt -- Construction of a Summerfield Suites extended stay hotel, near the Day Hill Road Corporate Area, to be completed in 2008.

Notable People

Roger Wolcott (1679–1767) weaver, colonial governor of Connecticut (1751-1754), father of Oliver Wolcott.
Oliver Ellsworth, third Chief Justice of the United States, a drafter of the Constitution and American Founding Father, was born in town.
John Mason, early military leader in the Connecticut colony, lived in town.
Oliver Phelps, (1749 - 1809)
Lancelot Phelps, (1784 - 1866) was a United States Representative from Connecticut.
Oliver Wolcott, American Founding Father, was born in town.
John Fitch, inventor of the steamboat.
Mike Joy (b. 1949), a TV sports announcer who serves as the lap-by-lap voice of FOX Sports' NASCAR coverage, is a former member of the Windsor Town Council.
Moe Drabowsky, major league baseball pitcher.
Al Anderson, guitarist, singer and songwiter, best known for his 20-year stint in NRBQ.
The Troy Donahue movie Parrish, was filmed on Windsor's tobacco "plantations" in 1961.
The movie Academy Boyz was shot at Loomis Chaffee in 1997.

Geography

Windsor's highest point is on Day Hill at 230 feet (70 m).

Windsor's lowest point is at the Connecticut River shore at 5 feet (2 m). The Connecticut River defines Windsor's east border. The city of Hartford, the Capital of Connecticut, is adjacent to Windsor to the south. The town of Windsor Locks, home of Bradley International Airport, is adjacent to Windsor to the north. Prior to its incorporation in 1854, it was known as the Pine Meadow section of Windsor. The towns of East Windsor and South Windsor are on east side of the Connecticut River, which defines Windsor's eastern border. The town of Bloomfield is to the west. The town of East Granby is to the northwest.

Windsor is two towns, approximately 20 minutes, south from Massachusetts.

The Farmington River joins the Connecticut River in Windsor. The Farmington River is dammed in the northwest corner of Windsor to form the 234 acre Rainbow Reservoir.

Demographics

Population

Year	Population
1850	3294
1900	3614
1950	11833
2000	28237

Population density was 368.0/km² (953.0/sq mi).

In the town the population was spread out with
24.6% under the age of 18,
5.9% from 18 to 24,
28.7% from 25 to 44,
26.2% from 45 to 64, and
14.5% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 40 years.
For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. 7,604 families residing in the town.
10,900 housing units at an average density of 367.9/sq mi (142.0/km²). 10,577 households out of which
32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them,
55.7% were married couples living together,
13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and
28.1% were non-families.

23.2% of all households were made up of individuals and
8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.10.

Income

Median income for a household in the town was $64,137, and
the median income for a family was $73,064.
Males had a median income of $45,443 versus $37,476 for females.

Windsor was one of a handfull of towns in the country where, in the United States Census, 2000,
median income for black households ($64,159)
was larger than white households ($63,624).
Asian households had a median income of $75,716.
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) households has a median income of $69,808.

The per capita income for the town was $27,633.

About 2.2% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including
4.3% of those under age 18 and
5.5% of those age 65 or over.

Diversity

Racial makeup of the town was
White 65.12%,
African American 27.09%,
Native American 0.16%,
Asian 3.14%,
Pacific Islander 0.03%,
other races 2.09%, and
2.38% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.98% of the population.

Windsor High School has 1471 students enrolled and demographics for 2004-2005 were:
Black 46.2%,
White 41.1%,
Hispanic 8.8%,
Asian 3.8%, and
Native American 0.1%.

Politics

Connecticut House of Representatives: Ruth C. Fahrbach (R) , Peggy Sayers (D)

Connecticut Senate: Eric D. Coleman (D)

United States House of Representatives: John B. Larson (D)

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005
Party		Active Voters	Inactive Voters	Total Voters	Percentage of Population	Democratic	7,295	329	7,624	26.5%	Republican	3,046	146	3,192	11.1%	Unaffiliated	7,980	429	8,409	29.2%	Minor Parties	12	1	13	0.5%
Total		18,333	905	19,238	66.8%