Did You Know?
Did you know that Eastford once had high hopes of becoming a railroad town?
At the August Town Meeting in 1849, selectmen instructed that $100 be spent to hire a competent surveyor to obtain the best route for a railroad from Willimantic to the Massachusetts line through Mansfield, Chaplin, Eastford, Woodstock, and Thompson, a charter having already been granted by the CT General Assembly. At that time, Eastford mill owners had to travel to the nearest rail station (probably Willimantic) for both pick-up and delivery of goods. A rail station in town would save them both time and money. Other businesses in town would likely also benefit from having a station in Eastford. As William Clark noted in the March 2022 Eastford Historical Quarterly in his enlightening article on the old mill dams, “Eastford is still waiting for it.”
Donations of original writings, old photographs, and small historic items are always welcome, and monetary donations are greatly appreciated! Send to P.O. Box 350, Eastford, CT 06242. For questions, call (860) 974-1610 (Tom) or (860) 933-0468 (Linda).