Quiet Corner
Northeastern Connecticut, better known as the Quiet Corner, is an historic region of the state of Connecticut, located in the northeastern corner of the state.[1] It is generally associated with Windham County, but also sometimes incorporates eastern sections of Tolland County and the northern portion of New London County.
An often cited[by whom?], but debatable boundary is the semi-rural town of Coventry, which is more rustic than the more suburban towns to the West. It can be said that the Quiet Corner's identity has much to do with its lack of direct association to the state's major cities and towns such as Hartford, Norwich, Willimantic, or Manchester. Therefore, a more strict definition by some long-time residents of the Quiet Corner roughly defines a quadrangle encompassing the town of Ashford in the West, Plainfield in the South, the Massachusetts border in the North, and the Rhode Island border in the East. Another useful definition of the quadrangle can be taken by drawing the Western and Southern boundary of the "Quiet Corner" at Route 198 or Route 89 in the West, and Route 14 in the South.
Eastern Connecticut is in contrast far more rural than Southern or Central Connecticut, with large swaths of scenic farmland, rivers and lakes, woodlands, and state forests. Its population centers are largely rural and semi-rural historic towns (many with legacies stretching back to the American Colonial Era), and most with populations below 10,000 residents. As such, it is one of the least-urbanized districts along the Northeast Megalopolis. Many of the towns are within a long commuting distance of Boston; although none are considered a part of the Boston Metropolitan Area. Only the Interstate 395 highway passes through the heart of the Quiet Corner as a nationally signed part of the Interstate Highway System, linking the area to Worcester, MA (and by extension the Massachusetts Turnpike), and also the Connecticut Shoreline. Additionally, but of less note, Interstate 84 passes near the western periphery of the region, providing a tenuous link with Hartford. Due to its relative isolation, The Quiet Corner is considered a core part of the Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor, a source of pride and identity which many residents of the area seek to preserve.
Under some definitions of the Quiet Corner, the region's largest town is Windham, including the borough of Willimantic, with a population of 25,000.[2] Under a more conservative definition of the region, however, the largest town is Killingly, with a population of nearly 18,000.[3] As paradoxical as it may seem, it can be noted that the Willimantic and Windham area is sometimes not considered a part of the Quiet Corner proper, as its much larger population size, urbanized/industrial setting, and location at the extreme southwestern corner of Windham County (with stronger ties to Manchester, Hartford, and Norwich) seek to divide the town from the more rural settings further north and east. It can generally be agreed upon that the core of today's Quiet Corner encompasses the towns of Pomfret, Killingly, Putnam, Woodstock, Brooklyn, Thompson, Eastford, Hampton, Chaplin, Plainfield, Canterbury, Sterling, and Scotland. Towns bordering the aforementioned region may or may not be considered a part of the Quiet Corner, depending on the resident who is asked.
Early industry in the area was powered by watermills set on fast rivers and streams such as the Willimantic River and the Quinebaug River[4], inspired by Samuel Slater's famous mills in nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Indeed, many towns of the area once bolstered large textile mills and milltowns, such as the Belding Mills in Thompson and Putnam and the Plainfield Woolen Company Mill and for nearly a century (from the early 1800s to roughly the 1930s) were a major source of economic and industrial development in the region. However, by the latter half of the 20th Century, many of these mills had fallen into disrepair and by the early 2000s had been dismantled. Of these surviving mill buildings, most have since been renovated into places of local business or stylish condominiums for residents. Several Quiet Corner subcommunities, North Grosvenordale in Thompson, Danielson in Killingly, and Central Village in Plainfield, to this day retain visual echoes of the historic mill-town villages.
The Quiet Corner is popular with tourists for its traditional New England scenery, culture, locally produced foods and bed and breakfasts, and is noted for its many antique shops. Major attractions in an around the Quiet Corner include the main University of Connecticut campus in Storrs; the birthplace of Samuel Huntington in Scotland; Route 169, a National Scenic Byway running north-and-south through the region, the Northern half of the The Airline Trail, which traverses Windham to Thompson; several noted Wineries and Vineyards, including Taylor Brook and Sharpe Hill in Pomfret and Woodstock, the Tourtellotte Memorial Room and Museum in Thompson, historic Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, the Lebanon Town Green and its accompanying Revolutionary War historic sites in Lebanon; the Prudence Crandall House Museum in Canterbury; the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry; and the wide variety of antique shops of Pomfret, Putnam, and Woodstock.
The region has seen a resurgence in the production of local foods, producing local wines, cheeses, ice cream, apples, maple syrup, craft beer, and a variety of heirloom crops.
41°54′N 71°52′W / 41.900°N 71.867°W
References
- ^ Hershey, Alex (2005-10-09). "New England's Quiet Corner". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ United States Census Bureau. "Community Facts". American FactFinder. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
- ^ "US Census Bureau Population Estimates". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "Tour of Eastern CT Mill Towns,Villages, and Mills". New England Yarn and Pattern. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
