Circa the 1950s, a driver for Thermos Company waves to photographer Bill Stanley as he leaves the Thermos plant on Laurel Hill Avenue. It was back in 1912 that a group of Norwich businessmen and citizens, called “Boomers of Norwich,” rallied the community to purchase 27 acres on Laurel Hill, near the Thames River and railroad tracks, and give the land to Thermos International if they would build their newest production plant in Norwich, which would bring hundreds of new jobs to the community. The Thermos plant closed in the late 1980s.

Ken Keeley has published 12 pictorial books of Norwich. He is now working on a New London book. To purchase any of his books he can be reached via e-mail at: kenekjr000@comcast.net.