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Wallingford through the Years
Spanning three centuries, Wallingford's history starts with the English Puritans who founded the town in 1670, but goes on to include many other groups and periods in American history:
- The yeoman Yankee farmers of the 1700 and 1800's, who transformed wooded wilderness into fields and pastures.
- The military leaders and capitalists who took a prominent role at the time of the American Revolution.
- Early nineteenth century industrialists who, by 1900, made Wallingford and the neighboring community of Meriden the leading center of silver manufacturing in the world.
- Late nineteenth century European immigrants who came to work in those silver factories, many of whom were skilled artisans and craftsmen trained in the European traditions, who brought different cultural and social traditions to Wallingford.
- Union Organizers, Socialists, and Suffragettes who worked for government and industrial reform.
This rich historic background can be seen in the mosaic of more than 4,000 historic buildings located within the town's borders. Among these are:
- Three dozen colonial buildings.
- Hundreds of Victorian homes.
- Ten major vintage nineteenth century factory complexes, several of which have been adaptively reused.
- The elegant Georgian Revival buildings of the Choate Rosemary Hall campus.
- Numerous public buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Building upon This Rich Architecural History
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