Willimantic, Connecticut

File:Willimantic Aero View.jpg

Willimantic is named for the Willimantic River which passes through it. The word was first attested in English writing as Waramanticut in 1684,{{cite book | last=Trumbull | first=J. Hammond | title=The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, May, 1678 - June, 1689 | publisher=Case, Lockwood & Co. | year=1859 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3h8oAQAAMAAJ | access-date=2018-06-05 | page=202}} and later as Wallamanticuk, Wewemantic and Weammantuck before being standardized as Willimantic.{{cite book | last=Douglas-Lithgow | first=Robert Alexander | title=Dictionary of American-Indian place and proper names in New England: with many interpretations, etc | publisher=Salem Press | year=1909 | url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer00doug | access-date=2018-06-05 | page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer00doug/page/296 296]}} The word is of Algonquian origin, either Mohegan-Pequot or Narragansett. It is commonly translated as "land of the swift running water", but the word more likely means "place near the evergreen swamp".{{cite web |last1=Eves |first1=Jamie H. |last2=Eves |first2=Katherine L. S. |url=http://www.millmuseum.org/history/swift-waters-the-industrial-environment/swift-waters-or-cedar-swamp/ |title=Swift Waters or Cedar Swamp? Native American Placenames in Connecticut and the Meaning of "Willimantic" |publisher=Windham Textile and History Museum |access-date=2018-06-04 }} The town of Willimantic, Maine, is named after Willimantic, Connecticut.

{{see also|Windham, Connecticut#History}}

The surrounding town of Windham was founded in 1693 on land bequeathed by the Mohegan people. The first settler in what is now Willimantic was Samuel Ashley, who bought property there in 1717.{{cite book | editor-last=Lincoln | editor-first=Allen B. | title=A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut | publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |volume=1 | year=1920 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqkyAQAAMAAJ | access-date=2019-05-26 |page=104}} Until it was industrialized, the area was called "Willimantic Falls".{{cite web | title=Willimantic's History | website=Willimantic Street Festivals | url=https://www.willimanticstreetfest.com/town-history.htm | access-date=2018-06-06}} The first mill to be established was a picking and carding facility for wool, in 1806. Other mills followed, most notably a series of thread mills starting in 1822. As the city grew, it was incorporated as a borough in 1833. Willimantic became known as "Thread City" for the proliferation of textile mills, primarily thread, along the river.{{cite book | last=Hellmann | first=P.T. | title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-135-94859-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REtEXQNWq6MC&pg=PA165 | access-date=2018-06-06 | page=165}}

Willimantic became a city when its charter was revised in 1893. Up to the outbreak of World War II, it continued to be a center for the production of silk and cotton thread. Various groups of immigrants arrived over the years to work in the mills.{{cite web |url=http://www.millmuseum.org/history/sweat-of-their-brows/mills-and-migrants/ |title=Mills and Migrants |publisher=Windham Textile and History Museum |last=Eves |first=James H. |access-date=2018-06-05}} The city was a major rail hub; in the early twentieth century, as many as a hundred trains ran through Willimantic daily.{{Cite web|url=http://www.millmuseum.org/history/swift-waters-the-industrial-environment/transportation/|title=Transportation, Railroads, and the Mills |last=Eves |first=Jamie H. |publisher=Windham Textile and History Museum|access-date=2016-09-21}} Ornate Victorian homes were built in the town's Prospect Hill section, and the town prospered, growing from a population of less than 5,000 in 1860 to more than 12,100 by 1910.{{cite web | title=Census of Population and Housing | publisher=United States Census Bureau | date=2018-05-02 | url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html | access-date=2018-06-06}}

But hard times followed; American Thread moved to North Carolina in 1985{{Cite web |last=Eves |first=Jamie H. |url=http://www.millmuseum.org/history/ |title=The Rise and Fall of Connecticut's Textile Industry |publisher=Windham Textile and History Museum |access-date=2018-06-05}} and without it, the town's economy foundered. The city consolidated back into the town in 1983.{{cite news | last=Hamilton | first=Robert A. | title=TOWNS TAKE STEPS TO CONSOLIDATE | newspaper=The New York Times | date=1983-02-13 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/13/nyregion/towns-take-steps-to-consolidate.html | access-date=2018-06-06}} The poverty rate, at 25.9%, was more than double the state average in 2010.{{Cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_SF4/DP03/0400000US09%7c0500000US09015%7c1600000US0985810 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200214010630/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_SF4/DP03/0400000US09%7C0500000US09015%7C1600000US0985810 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-02-14 |title=Selected Economic Characteristics, 2006-2010 American Community Survey |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=2018-06-05 }}

Heroin use, present since the 1960s, became a major public health problem in the early 2000s, declining somewhat by the 2010s. In 2002, The Hartford Courant ran an investigative series called "Heroin Town" describing rampant heroin use in Willimantic, disproportionate to the town's small size,{{cite news |title=Heroin Town |url=http://www.courant.com/news/special-reports/hc-heroin,0,6678044.storygallery |newspaper=The Hartford Courant |date=October 20–24, 2002 |access-date=December 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802123356/http://www.courant.com/news/special-reports/hc-heroin,0,6678044.storygallery |url-status=dead }} which was followed by a 60 Minutes segment in 2003.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heroin-town/|title=Heroin Town| work=60 Minutes |date=2003-06-10 |last=Leung |first=Rebecca |access-date=2018-06-06}} The coverage upset local residents, and the state appointed a task force to study the issue.{{cite journal |title=The Truth Hurts |last=Dufresne |first=Marcel |journal=American Journalism Review |url=http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2761 |date=January–February 2003 |access-date=2018-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301231653/http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2761 |archive-date=2012-03-01 |url-status=dead }} The Hotel Hooker, long known for drug use and prostitution, was renamed to the Seth Chauncey Hotel and put under new management in 2004,{{cite web | last=Braccidiferro | first=Gail | title=Makeover at Hotel in Willimantic Goes Far Beyond Name, Tenants Say | website=The New York Times | date=2004-02-22 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/22/nyregion/makeover-at-hotel-in-willimantic-goes-far-beyond-name-tenants-say.html | access-date=2018-06-06}} then renamed Windham House in 2005.{{cite news |last=Fox |first=Tracey Gordon | title=Finally, Some Rewards | newspaper=The Hartford Courant | date=2005-08-21 | url=https://www.courant.com/2005/08/21/finally-some-rewards/ | access-date=2018-06-06}} Drug and prostitution arrests peaked in the late 2000s with increased enforcement, and began to fall by 2010.{{cite news |publisher=WFSB 3 Connecticut |url=http://www.wfsb.com/story/14799176/once-a-drug-haven-willimantic-sees-positive-changes-11-10-2010?clienttype=printable |title=Once A Drug Haven, Willimantic Sees Positive Changes |date=2010-11-10 |access-date=2018-06-05}}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the census-designated place (CDP) has a total area of {{convert|4.5|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|4.4|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|0.1|sqmi}} (2.23%) is water.{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/gazetteer2010.html|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files Record Layouts|last=Geography|first=US Census Bureau|website=www.census.gov|language=EN-US|access-date=2017-03-13}} The Willimantic River and the Natchaug River converge to form the Shetucket River in southeastern Willimantic. The Hop River also flows into the Willimantic River at the western border.

Willimantic is, in part, bordered by rivers. Its western border follows the Willimantic River; its eastern border is formed by the Natchuag and Shetucket Rivers. The CDP borders the towns of Coventry, Mansfield, Columbia, and Lebanon. It also borders the CDPs of South Windham (which is in the same town as Willimantic) and Mansfield Center.

{{Windham County weatherbox}}

{{US Census population

|1880= 6608

|1890= 8648

|1900= 8937

|1910= 11230

|1920= 12330

|1930= 12102

|1940= 12101

|1950= 13586

|1960= 13881

|1970= 14402

|1980= 14652

|1990= 14746

|2000= 15823

|2010= 17737

|2020= 18149

|align-fn=center

|footnote=[https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html U.S. Decennial Census] /

[http://www.socialexplorer.com/54df7d897c/view Social Explorer Map]

|estref=}}

Immigrants of many national origins populated the city. First, Europeans arrived to work in the mills—Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans and French Canadians. Later, Estonian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Puerto Rican immigrants moved to the town in search of mill jobs. As a mark of how strongly newcomers identified with their places of origin, Willimantic has many churches, even several from the same denomination: for example, one Catholic church for French Canadians, another for Irish, Polish and Italian immigrants.

As of the 2010 US Census,{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US0985810 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=2018-06-23 |title=Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: Willimantic CDP, Connecticut |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213100523/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/1600000US0985810 |archive-date=2020-02-13 |url-status=dead }} there were 17,737 people, 5,812 households, and 3,324 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|4,031|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 6,282 housing units at an average density of {{convert|1,428|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.

The racial makeup of the CDP was 66.0% White, 7.5% African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 20.2% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.8% of the population, of whom the majority are (26.4%) Puerto Rican.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Of the 5,812 households, just over one third (34.2%) included children under the age of 18, 30.6% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 42.8% were non-families. About 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% of households were one individual aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the CDP the population's age distribution was 21.5% under age 18, 31.0% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males. For every 100 women ages 18 and over, there were 95.8 men.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $37,469, and the median income for a family was $45,254. Males had a median income of $37,111 versus $33,862 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $18,441. About 23.7% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.4% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/1600000US0985810 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213095236/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/1600000US0985810 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-02-13 |work=American Community Survey |year=2010 |author=United States Census Bureau |title=SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: Willimantic CDP, Connecticut |access-date=2018-06-23 }}

The Willimantic urban cluster is an area surrounding the CDP, which has a population of 29,669 as of the 2010 census.{{Cite news|url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/03/27/2012-6903/qualifying-urban-areas-for-the-2010-census|title=Qualifying Urban Areas for the 2010 Census|date=2012-03-27|work=Federal Register|access-date=2017-03-03}}

Willimantic's first factory was built in 1822 on Main Street by Charles Lee, followed by the first of the Jillson Mills in 1824. The Jillson Mills were bought in 1854 by a group of investors from Hartford, who formed the Willimantic Linen Company. In 1879, the Company built a woodworking factory to source its spools in Howard, Maine, which was renamed Willimantic in 1881. In 1880, the Willimantic Linen Company built its Mill No. 4, the first industrial building designed for electric lighting and the world's largest cotton mill at the time,{{cite web | title=History of Willimantic, The Thread City | author=Public Archaeology Survey Team | url=http://www.past-inc.org/Willimantic/overall_history.htm | access-date=2018-06-06}} which stood until it was burned down by two teenagers in 1995.{{cite news | last1=O'Neill |first1=Helen |last2=Machado |first2=Helen |title=Fire Destroys Historic Mill At Former American Thread | newspaper=The Hartford Courant | date=1995-06-11 | url=https://www.courant.com/1995/06/11/fire-destroys-historic-mill-at-former-american-thread/ | access-date=2018-06-06}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/1995/06/28/2-charged-in-windham-mill-fire/|title=2 Charged In Windham Mill Fire|newspaper=The Hartford Courant |date=1995-06-28 |last=Ungar |first=Laura |access-date=2018-06-28|language=en}} The company was acquired by American Thread Company in 1898, and expanded production. The mill closed when the company moved operations to North Carolina in 1985.

Major employers include Willimantic Waste Paper Company, which specializes in the collection and recycling of fiber products, scrap metal, and co-mingled plastic refuse,{{cite news |last=Renczkowski |first=Amy | title=Big machine needed for big job | newspaper=The Day |location=New London, Connecticut | date=2010-04-26 | url=https://www.theday.com/article/20100426/NWS01/304269970 | access-date=2018-06-06}} as well as Brand-Rex Corporation, which maintains a manufacturing making specialty wire and cable for commercial and industrial customers.{{cite news |last=Haar |first=Dan | title=Cable Guys | newspaper=The Hartford Courant | date=1998-01-29 | url=https://www.courant.com/1998/01/29/cable-guys/ | access-date=2018-06-06}} In January 2018, a fire destroyed the Willimantic Waste Paper processing plant, however it was rebuilt and is currently operating.{{Cite news|url=http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-willimantic-fire-waste-20180128-story.html|title=Willimantic Waste Fire "Under Control," Still Smoldering|last=Porter|first=Matthew Ormseth, Mikaela|work=courant.com|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.norwichbulletin.com/photogallery/CT/20180129/PHOTOGALLERY/129009999/PH/1|title=Photos: GALLERY: Willimantic Waste Paper Co. fire|work=The Bulletin|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Large-Fire-Reported-at-Waste-Paper-Company-in-Willimantic-471532684.html|title=Fire at Willimantic Waste Company Under Control|work=NBC Connecticut|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en}} On July 26, 2021, Casella Waste Systems purchased Willimantic Waste Paper Company.{{Cite web|title=Casella Waste Systems Acquires Connecticut Based Willimantic Waste Paper Co., Inc. {{!}} Casella Waste Systems, Inc.|url=https://ir.casella.com/news-releases/news-release-details/casella-waste-systems-acquires-connecticut-based-willimantic|access-date=2021-08-30|website=ir.casella.com|language=en}}

File:Willimantic CT 33.jpg

Willimantic is home to a wealth of Victorian-era architecture. Prospect Hill Historic District is a National Register-listed historic district containing 993 buildings. Windham Town Hall, formerly Willimantic City Hall, is a Romanesque Revival building housing the town offices for Windham and Willimantic.{{Cite web|url=http://www.windhamct.com/townhall.htm|title=Windham Town Hall - Windham/Willimantic, CT|website=www.windhamct.com|access-date=2018-06-22}}

The Windham Textile and History Museum preserves and presents the history of the neighboring Jillson Mills and the rest of Willimantic during the Industrial Revolution. The Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, located where the Columbia Junction Freight Yard was, has a collection of locomotives and rolling stock, as well as a reconstructed six-stall roundhouse.{{cite web|url=http://www.cteastrrmuseum.org/about.htm |title=About the Museum |publisher=Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum |access-date=2013-04-29}}

Willimantic is the home of the Willimantic Footbridge. Built in 1907, it is the only footbridge in the United States to connect two state highways, as well as crossing all three major forms of transportation: road, rail, and river. The Thread City Crossing ("Frog Bridge") is a road bridge over the Willimantic River, opened to traffic in September 2000, featuring eight-foot high, green-painted bronze frogs sitting on concrete thread spools to represent Willimantic's history in textiles as well as the local legend of the Windham Frog Fight of 1754.{{cite web|url=http://connecticuthistory.org/bridge-ornaments-help-tell-the-legend-of-the-windham-frog-fight/|title=Bridge Ornaments Help Tell the Legend of the Windham Frog Fight|publisher=ConnecticutHistory.org|access-date=2014-07-07}}{{cite news |url=http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/20180225/historically-speaking-bridges-frogs-have-roots-in-willimantics-past |newspaper=Norwich Bulletin |last=Curland |first=Richard |date=2018-02-25 |title=Historically Speaking: Bridge's frogs have roots in Willimantic's past |access-date=2018-06-06}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/03/nyregion/once-again-frogs-land-in-willimantic.html|title=Once Again, Frogs Land in Willimantic|last=Polk|first=Nancy|date=2000-12-03 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2018-06-22|language=en}}

File:Downtown Willimantic, CT 01.jpg

Willimantic holds a Boom Box Parade every 4 July where, instead of a marching band performing, residents bring boom boxes tuned to WILI, the local AM radio station. The tradition started on Memorial Day of 1986, when no marching band was available for a parade.{{cite web |url=http://www.wili-am.com/parade.htm |title=The WILI Boom Box Parade |publisher=WILI AM |access-date=2018-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413065337/http://wili-am.com/parade.htm |archive-date=2015-04-13 |url-status=dead }} The parade has received national attention from the Washington Post.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2000/07/05/no-76-trombones-in-this-parade/9a6959a9-ddbc-4ef8-a0ec-0f4fb674df3d/|title=No 76 Trombones In This Parade |first=Tim |last=Page |date=2000-06-05 |access-date=2007-06-08 |newspaper=Washington Post}} For Valentine's Day, it runs a chocolate festival, including a baking contest.{{cite news |url=http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/20180126/romantic-willimantic-chocolate-festival-to-feature-cake-contest |title=Romantic Willimantic Chocolate Festival to feature cake contest |newspaper=Norwich Bulletin |date=2018-01-26 |access-date=2018-06-06}} The event started with a popular set of T-shirts first printed in 1980, which led to the first crowning of a "Town Cupid" in 1982, now an annual event.{{cite web |url=https://patch.com/connecticut/mansfield/bp--windhamwillimantic-wonders-romantic-willimantic-abec7a35b0f |title=Romantic Willimantic - A Brief History |last=Leeds |first=Peter |date=2013-02-19 |publisher=Mansfield Patch |access-date=2018-06-06}}

Once a year, the Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association offers tours of homes in the Prospect Hill Historic District as part of a "Victorian Days" event.{{cite web |url=http://victorianwillimantic.org/wordpress2/index.php/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620101340/http://victorianwillimantic.org/wordpress2/index.php/about/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |publisher=Willimantic Victorian Neighborhood Association |title=About |access-date=2018-06-06}}

Starting in 2002, on the third Thursday of each month from May to September, the town holds the Third Thursday Street Fest on Main Street, an arts festival with live music and street vendors. The event is run by Willimantic Renaissance, a local nonprofit organization, and draws about eight thousand attendees.{{cite web|url=http://www.willimanticstreetfest.com/wri.htm |title=Third Thursday Street Fest |publisher=Willimanticstreetfest.com |access-date=2013-04-29}}

Willimantic is served by Windham Public Schools,{{cite web |title=Windham Public Schools |url=https://www.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}} which administers public schools in Willimantic as well as in the rest of Windham. Willimantic itself has a public preschool, the Windham Early Childhood Center,{{cite web |title=Windham Early Childhood Center |url=http://ecc.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}} as well as Sweeney Elementary{{cite web |title=Sweeney Elementary School |url=http://swe.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}} and Natchaug School for primary education, Windham Middle School{{cite web |title=Windham Middle School |url=http://wms.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}} for middle-school education, and Windham High School{{cite web |title=Windham High School |url=http://whs.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}} for high-school students. Middle-school students can also apply for admission by lottery to the Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy in Windham.{{cite web |title=Charles H. Barrows STEM Academy |url=http://cbs.windhamps.org/ |publisher=Windham Public Schools |access-date=2018-06-06}}

Additionally, Willimantic contains the Arts at the Capitol Theater Performing Arts High School, administered by EASTCONN,{{cite web |title=ACT Home Page |url=https://www.eastconn.org/act-home |publisher=EASTCONN |access-date=2018-06-06}} and Windham Technical High School, part of the Connecticut Technical High School System. There is also a private Christian school, St. Mary-St. Joseph School, serving Pre-K through eighth grade.{{cite web |title=St. Mary-St. Joseph School |url=https://sites.google.com/smsjschool.org/home |access-date=2018-06-06}}

Eastern Connecticut State University, a four-year liberal arts college, is located in Willimantic, as is a satellite campus of Quinebaug Valley Community College.

Before it was re-incorporated into Windham, Willimantic had a series of mayors;{{cite web |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CT/ofc/willimantic.html |title=Willimantic, Connecticut |website=The Political Graveyard |access-date=2018-06-19}} the Town of Windham was administered by a board of selectmen until 2009, when it changed to use a town council/town manager system with an elected mayor. As part of Windham, it is part of Connecticut's 2nd congressional district; in the Connecticut Senate, the 29th district,{{cite map |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/SLD_RefMap/upper/st09_ct/sldu09029/DC10SLDU09029_001.pdf |series=State Legislative District Reference Maps |title=State Senate District 29 (Connecticut) |scale=1:63160 |author=United States Census Bureau |date=2013-05-18 |access-date=2018-06-19}} and in the Connecticut House of Representatives, most of it is in the 49th district, with some western parts in the 48th district.{{cite map |series=State Legislative District Reference Maps |title=State House District 49 (Connecticut) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/SLD_RefMap/lower/st09_ct/sldl09049/DC10SLDL09049_001.pdf |scale=1:15800 |author=United States Census Bureau |date=2013-05-19 |access-date=2018-06-19}}{{cite map |series=State Legislative District Reference Maps |title=State House District 48 (Connecticut) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/SLD_RefMap/lower/st09_ct/sldl09048/DC10SLDL09048_001.pdf |scale=1:41959 |author=United States Census Bureau |date=2013-05-19 |access-date=2018-06-19}}

Willimantic was the county seat of Windham County from 1893 to 1960, when the county system was abolished.{{cite web |url=https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Register-Manual/Section-VI/Counties---Table-of-Contents |website=Connecticut State Register and Manual |publisher=State of Connecticut |title=Section VI: Counties |access-date=2018-11-29}} The Windham Judicial District building is in downtown Willimantic as well.{{cite web |url=https://www.jud.ct.gov/directory/directory/directions/37_willimantic.htm |title=Windham Judicial District (at Willimantic) |publisher=State of Connecticut Judicial Branch |year=2016 |access-date=2018-06-19}}

Willimantic is served by several state routes: Route 14, Route 32, Route 66, Route 195, and Route 289. It is additionally served by the Willimantic Bypass (US 6), a controlled-access highway. Notably, the only connections to the outside world are via surface roads, as the Willimantic Bypass is only divided between its two intersections with Route 66. In the 1960s, Interstate 84 was intended to connect Willimantic to Hartford in the west and Providence in the east, but the plan was eventually abandoned.{{cite web |url=https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-384_ct.html |work=Interstate Guide |title=Interstate 384 Connecticut |access-date=2018-06-06}} Though the city was a major rail hub, Interstate 84 only skirted the area between 1970 and 1983, until plans to continue the highway eastward were scrapped by 1984, after which time U.S. 6 was moved to the Willimatic Bypass.

Public transportation in Willimantic is provided by the Windham Region Transit District, which provides two in-town routes, and three intercity routes to Norwich, Danielson and Storrs.{{cite web |title=System Maps |publisher=Windham Region Transit District |url=http://wrtd.org/system-maps/ |access-date=2018-06-06}} Historically, Willimantic was also served by intercity trolley service: from 1903 to 1936, a line ran southeast to Norwich, and from 1909 to 1926, another ran northwest to Coventry. Both lines ended at the downtown railroad yard, but did not physically connect, as they did not cross the tracks.{{cite web |url=https://shorelinetrolley.org/about/trolley-towns-of-connecticut/ |publisher=The Shore Line Trolley Museum |title=Trolley Towns of Connecticut |access-date=2018-06-06}}

File:Willimantic station white border postcard.JPG

In the 19th century, three active rail lines passed through Willimantic: the Central Vermont Railway in 1849, running from New London in the south northward to Vermont, the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad (later purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) in 1849, running east-to-west, and finally a line of the New York and New England Railroad, running from Boston in the northeast towards New York via Middletown and New Haven in the southwest, in 1872, which also was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Willimantic was one of only a handful of stops between Boston and New York on the high-speed "White Train" of the 1890s.{{Cite web|url=http://pages.cthome.net/mbartel/ARRhistory.htm|title=Air Line Rail Trail|last=Bartel|first=Martin M.|date=2010-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205051523/http://pages.cthome.net/mbartel/ARRhistory.htm|archive-date=2010-12-05|url-status=dead|access-date=2017-03-14}} At its peak, the passenger rail system ran forty trains a day through Willimantic.{{cite web |url=http://www.past-inc.org/Willimantic/railroad.htm |title=Willimantic's Railroad Lines |author=Public Archaeology Survey Team |access-date=2018-06-06}} The NH operated the Nutmeg and several unnamed local trains on an east–west route from Waterbury, through Hartford and Willimantic, and on east to Boston. These rail services ended in 1955 after a bridge was flooded out by Hurricane Diane.New Haven April 1955 timetable, Table 18Official Guide of the Railways, August 1958, New Haven section, Table 7 (p. 154), Table 31 (p. 165)Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. p. 112. {{ISBN|9780942147124}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.tylercitystation.info/stations-n-ne.html |title=Track 12: CT Passenger Stations, N-NE |publisher=Tyler City Station |access-date=1 November 2015}}

File:Former Amtrak platform, Willimantic, CT.JPG in downtown Willimantic.]]

Currently no active passenger rail service stops at Willimantic station, though formerly Amtrak's Montrealer stopped at the city from 1991 to 1995.{{Cite web|url=http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/willimantic.htm| title=Amtrak - Willimantic, CT (WIM) |publisher=TrainWeb |access-date=2018-01-23}}{{Cite news|title=Willimantic may once again lose Amtrak|last=KEVENEY|first=BILL|date=March 9, 1992|work=Hartford Courant|id={{ProQuest|255332510}}}}

Windham Airport (IJD), a nearby general aviation airport, is the only airport that directly serves the CDP. Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks is the closest commercial airport.

The Airline Trail South crosses the Willimantic River to enter Willimantic on a 2016 built path that ends at Bridge St.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=479336&deepNav_GID=1650|title=DEEP: Air Line State Park Trail|last=Protection|first=Department of Environmental|website=www.ct.gov|language=en-us|access-date=2018-06-20}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/aspt_lebanonwindhamgps.pdf|title=Air Line Trail State Park: Columbia & Lebanon, Connecticut|date=June 8, 2016|website=Connecticut.gov|access-date=June 20, 2018}} The Airline Trail North starts on Jackson St. across the street from Jillson Park, the trail then goes through the northeastern part of Willimantic before crossing the Natchuag River to leave the CDP and heading on to Putnam.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/aspt_hrspt_connectiongps.pdf|title=Air Line Trail State Park, Lebanon & Windham, Connecticut|date=June 8, 2016|website=Connecticut.gov|access-date=June 20, 2018}} The Hop River Trail enters Willimantic on CT 66 (crossing over the Willimantic River) shortly before departing to follow the river to the Airline Trail, where it ends.

Electricity and gas service is provided by Eversource. Municipal water and sewer services are provided by Windham Water Works.{{cite web |url=http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dutilities/utility_by_town_2018-03-15.pdf |page=163 |date=2018-03-15 |title=Utility by Town List |publisher=Connecticut Department of Transportation Utilities Section |access-date=2018-06-06}}{{cite web |url=http://www.windhamct.com/townhall_dept_waterworks.htm |title=Windham Water Works |publisher=Windham Town Hall |access-date=2018-06-06 }}

Windham Hospital, a subsidiary of Hartford HealthCare, is a 130-bed community hospital serving the area.{{cite web |url=https://windhamhospital.org/about-us |title=About Us |publisher=Windham Hospital |access-date=2018-06-06}} The Veterans Administration also runs an outpatient primary-care facility on Main Street.{{cite web |url=https://www.connecticut.va.gov/locations/Willimantic_Outpatient_Clinic.asp |title=Willimantic Outpatient Clinic |publisher=US Department of Veterans Affairs |access-date=2018-06-06 }} Generations Family Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, is also located on Mansfield Avenue.{{cite web |url=http://www.genhealth.org/about |title=About Generations |publisher=Generations Family Health Center |access-date=2018-06-29}}

Willimantic is served by The Chronicle, a local paper founded in 1877 with continuous service since then, which also serves other towns in Eastern Connecticut.

Two commercial radio stations serve the Willimantic area: WILI AM 1400 (with a translator station to 95.3 FM), a news/talk/sports station, and its sister station WILI-FM 98.3, a top 40 station. Eastern Connecticut State University also broadcasts WECS, the local NPR affiliate, on FM 90.1.

{{see also|Category: People from Willimantic, Connecticut|Eastern Connecticut State University#Notable alumni}}

{{Div col}}

• William Bonin, serial killer known as the Freeway Killer
• Apathy (birth name Chad Bromley), rapper
• Nora Dannehy, Connecticut Supreme Court justice
• Chris Dodd, senator
• Eileen Farrell, soprano opera and concert singer
• Jennifer Guthrie, actress
• John Manning Hall, lawyer and state legislator
• Skip Holtz, football coach
• Julian Jordan, composer
• Jules Jordan, composer
• James A. Kowalski, clergyman
• John T. Lis, professor of molecular biology and genetics
• John S. Marcy, member of the New York State Assembly
• Alfred Henry Noel, mayor from 1969 to 1971
• Fred Norris, radio personality
• Isaiah Oggins, American spy for the Soviet Union, GULAG prisoner, and victim of Stalinism
• Helen Turner Watson, one of the first African American women to serve in the U.S Navy
• Ethel Paley, nursing home patient advocate{{div col end}}

Connecticut State Troubadour Hugh Blumenfeld wrote a "Willimantic Trilogy" of songs about the city from 1990 to 1995: "Thread City", "Main Street Sky", and "How Long".{{cite web |url=http://home.earthlink.net/~h2jukebox/troubadour.html |title=1999-2000 Connecticut State Troubadour |last=Blumenfeld |first=Hugh |date=2003-06-17 |access-date=2018-06-19}}

In 2007, writer-director A.D. Calvo filmed portions of his debut film, The Other Side of the Tracks, in Willimantic,{{Citation |last1=Fehr |first1=Brendan |title=The Other Side of the Tracks|date=2008-03-28|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1006929/locations |last2=Knight |last3=Lindberg |last4=Malthe |first2=Shirley |first3=Chad |first4=Natassia |access-date=2017-03-13}} and in 2011, he returned to film the majority of his third feature, House of Dust, on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University and various other locations in town.{{Cite news|url=http://ct.gov/ecd/lib/ecd/house_of_dust_swan_day.pdf|title=The Step Saver/The Observer |last=CHAIKEN|first=MIKE|date=2011-08-26|access-date=2017-03-12}}

In Marvel Comics "Avengers: Celestial Quest", Mantis recounts raising her son, Sequoia, in Willimantic for a year. One of her fragmented manifestations would later return and be found by a clone of Thanos."Avengers: Celestial Quest" Issue 1-2

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{{Wikivoyage|Willimantic}}

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• {{official website|http://www.windhamct.com}}
• [http://www.windhamchamber.com/ Windham/Willimantic Chamber of Commerce]

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Category:Connecticut placenames of Native American origin

Category:Census-designated places in Windham County, Connecticut

Category:Micropolitan areas of Connecticut

Category:Windham, Connecticut