South Glastonbury - Then and Now

Hardly much of a trek but nevertheless--being a history buff--these local spots warranted researching and posting. :-)  All black & white historical photos below were sourced from the Arcadia Publishing: "Glastonbury" book - courtesy of the Historical Society of Glastonbury (which I am now a proud member)!.

South Glastonbury Post Office 

Although South Glastonbury was never near a railroad, it did have a street car line. The Trolley Line was extended from Hubbard Brook to Roaring Brook in 1893. 

Streetcar in front of the post office

The sign above the Post Office entry says:

-Town of Glastonbury population 4,800

-Hartford 9 miles--Middletown 9 miles

The building to the left is the salesroom of Hopewell Mills

Today the former Post Office building is a cleaners and the former Hopewell Mills Salesroom houses two stores.

Spar Mill

This mill--located where High Street crosses the Roaring Brook--was originally known as the Roaring Brook Paper Manufacturing Company. There was a sawmill and paper mill to make binder's boards for book covers. Later known as the Hollister Grist Mill it was eventually converted it into a grinding mill for processing the feldspar mined in nearby quarries and renamed the Spar Mill.

1880's view of the mill

Today the former mill office is a residence and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

the house, visible on the right, is in the historic photo above

There was a dam here but there's not much left to indicate that!

Cotton Hollow Mill Dams

Much has been written about the former Cotton Hollow Mill which I visited even before I moved here! see post >.  It was and still is an impressive site! The dams here were 24 and over 50 feet high and the 80-acre site included 19 houses where factory workers lived.

The large dam was blown up in 1904.

View of the former mill (January 2021)