I remember visiting my friend Jim’s grandmother near the Greeneville Elementary School when we were about 8 years old.

Mrs. Bray was a great grandmother to Jim. She always had soda and homemade chocolate chip cookies in a very large, well used jar. Afterward, we ventured up to the school playground for some serious climbing and seesawing.

Summer was a grand time for this important segment in our development. For what, I don’t know, but it was glorious.

As you read this article, you will find that you are reading about the Greeneville Historical District. But you may ask why?

In the early part of Norwich’s history, the Yantic River was the genesis of the economic history of Norwich. But the Yantic River was too small to provide enough space and waterpower for increased production of sellable goods. The waterwheel was the state of the art of power production well before electrical generation. Steam engines had not come into use quite yet.

In 1828, an enterprising industrialist named William P. Greene left the small fluctuating waterpower site of the Yantic River and bought a tract of land consisting of 300 acres on either side of the Shetucket River and began a surprisingly strong factory business zone. The land was narrow due to the high cliffs and narrow sides of the river that is now called Greeneville, one mile or so east of downtown Norwich.

In 1833, this land was surveyed by William Lester for residential and commercial use at the request of Greene, largest shareholder of the Norwich Water Power Company. Lots were laid out along a grid of streets, running parallel to the Shetucket River (currently, North Main Street, Central Avenue and Prospect Street). At one time, North Main Street was known as the Jewett City Road (Route 12). The survey was used as a framework but not all the streets of the original grid were developed. Mr. Greene began fundraising for the development of the Norwich Water Company. He arranged to have James Baldwin design and build a dam on the Shetucket River (above the present-day Greeneville Dam) to provide a continuous sufficient flow of water.

Construction also began on a waterpower canal seven-eighths of a mile long, hand-dug through granite, to power waterwheels for his new purchase, the Quinebaug Company. Soon, factories began manufacturing cotton material, flannel, paper and even carpets.

Amos Hubbard, a descendant of Christopher Leffingwell, had been operating Leffingwell’s paper factory at Yantic Falls, producing only singular sheets of paper one at a time. He was the first person in the United States to import a Foudrinier process machine to a continuous roll of paper, therefore speeding up the production of paper.

After 42 years at the falls, he moved to land between the power canal and the Shetucket River as his new site of operation. This company later was sold to William Greene, and the paper factory was converted to produce cotton goods. Mr. Hubbard moved his operations to a much larger plant adjacent to the Chelsea Manufacturing Company, which then became the largest paper making establishment in the world. This land between the river and the power canal is roughly located where the old Mister Bigs was located.

Within a few years, Greene began The Shetucket Company and the Norwich Falls Company near Yantic Falls. Needing workers, he had a self-supporting factory village built including water and sewers.

An article titled “The Leading Businessmen of Norwich and Vicinity Embracing Greeneville and Preston” from the Mercantile Publishing Company describes the wonders of having a sewer which would take all sewerage and dump it into the river where it would then flow to the ocean, not to be seen again.

The article states, “Vital statistics testify that there is no city in New England healthier than Norwich, or one that is freer of epidemics of every kind, malaria or fever.” Malaria, highly unlikable!

Mr. Greene took advantage of the development of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad with its right-of-way running alongside of the power canal, adjacent to his factories.

This article was standard propaganda for the 1830s, a device to entice companies to come to Greeneville and Norwich, for the good of the company, the populous and the city.

The early workers were farmers and their family, who hoped to earn a better way of life. This population grew quickly due to the influx of workers seeking a better living standard.

Immigration from foreign counties began with the Irish fleeing the potato famine. Polish immigrants came fleeing persecution, as did Greek families, and Italians during a second influx later in the century.

As companies grew and the need for more homes and stores multiplied, manager homes were built near the factories. The Civil War brought major gun manufacturers to Greeneville who would produce muskets and rifles for the North. They were Bacon Arms, the Union Machine Shop, the Eagle Arms Company and the Norwich Arms Company.

Norwich was the source of enough arms to supply the entire North with guns for the Civil War. With the Providence and Worcester Railroads (as it was now called) with tracks running through Greeneville, the flow of guns seemed to have won the war for the North.

The large 20-building plant of the United Finishing Company provided employment opportunities for Greeneville residents. Ancillary shops grew up in Greeneville catering to the needs of their customers. A tannery also provided employment as did the trolley carbarn.

The Providence and Worcester Railroad had a railcar manufacturing building and a round house located where Shetucket Plumbing is now located. The first St. Mary Church was built where Savage Supply is now located. It was the first Catholic Church east of the Connecticut River, built in the 1840s.

Many other churches were welcomed into Greeneville such as the Greeneville Congregational Church, Divine Providence Church, St. Nickolas Russian Orthodox Church, Greeneville Baptist Church (now the carpet store for The Leader Store), a Methodist church and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, which became the VFW and now serves as a church again.

Norwich is an old mill town where many companies prospered and changed the landscape of the city. The various mill villages such as the Falls area, Taftville, Greenville and Thamesville added to the greatness that was Norwich. Greatness cannot always be sustained without a change in peoples’ outlook in what can be done to create growth. Many of the old buildings along the river have been empty for years, and they need to be utilized as a catalyst in creative management and development for the people of Greeneville and the whole city of Norwich.

Bill Shannon is a retired Norwich Public School teacher and a lifelong resident of Norwich.