Mansfield, Connecticut
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| Mansfield, Connecticut |
|
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| NECTA | Hartford |
| Region | Windham Region |
| Incorporated | 1702 |
| Government type | Council-manager |
| Town manager | Martin H. Berliner |
| Town council | Elizabeth C. Paterson, Mayor Alison Whitham Blair Bruce Clouette Gregory S. Haddad Alan R. Hawkins Helen F. Koehn Christopher R. Paulhus Carolyn B. Redding Carl W. Schaefer |
| Area | |
| - City | 117.8 km² (45.5 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| - City (2005) | 24,558[1] |
| - Density | 213/km² (552/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 06235, 06250, 06268 |
| Website: http://www.mansfieldct.org/ | |
Mansfield is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,720 at the 2000 census.
Mansfield was incorporated in October, 1702, from Windham.
The town of Mansfield contains the community of Storrs, which is home to the main campus of the University of Connecticut.
Contents |
[edit] Sites of interest
The first silk mill in the United States was constructed in Mansfield and financed by pilgrim descendent, William Fisk. The town, along with neighboring Willimantic, played an important role in the manufacture of thread and other textiles. Though nothing remains of the mill (now on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Michigan), Mansfield has held onto several other historic landmarks. A fully intact gristmill, dating to 1835, the Gurleyville Gristmill is the only one of its kind in Connecticut. Built on the Fenton River, this stone grist mill remains intact with the original equipment. The adacent miller's house is the birthplace of former CT governor Wilbur Cross. More recent yet rare nonetheless, the Mansfield Drive-in, a drive-in movie theater, and Lucky Strike Lanes, a duckpin bowling alley (since closed as of 10/2006), are among the last of their breed in the nation.
Mansfield Training School, situated on more than 1,000 acres and encompassing 85 buildings, the Training School was operated by the Connecticut Department of Mental Retardation until its closure, after legal challenges, in 1993. [1] Four years later, the former director and a once staunch advocate of the school declared, "The Mansfield Training School is closed: the swamp has finally been drained." [2] Since then, the site has been allowed to deteriorate, though the University of Connecticut has been slowly finding uses for and fixing up many of the buildings. The school, with its eery overturned wheelchairs and neo-classical hospital, remains a magnet for adventurous locals, the police, and amateur photographers. Located directly across U.S. Route 44 from the Mansfield Training School is the Donald T. Bergin Correctional Institution. The Level 2 facility houses approximately 1,000 inmates. It serves as a pre-release center for inmates who are approaching the end of their sentence or a period of supervised community placement.
Within the town limits, Mansfield also boasts Natchaug Hospital, a behavioral health center. The hospital provides a full range of inpatient psychiatric and substance-abuse treatment.
Development has increased in recent years, leading to the imposition of a temporary moratorium on new subdivisions, as well as additional land acquisition. Mansfield enjoys a moderate amount of protected open space, notably Mansfield Hollow State Park, eight town parks and preserves, and numerous Joshua's Trust properties, in addition to university holdings. Three large farms operate within Mansfield, including Mountain Dairy, which has been producing and processing milk under the stewardship of one family since 1871. In contrast to many municipalities, Mansfield is actively pursuing a program of smart growth through the construction of a livable downtown.
On the Northeastern edge of town (Mount Hope Village), a rather "infamous" playwright, actor and producer: Willard Mack (AKA Charles W McLaughlin); owned a large estate (originally built by William FIsk). Willard Mack, famous for literally scores of plays as well as silent and "talkie" movies (Broadway to Hollywood, Kick In, Nanette of the Wild, etc...) permitted his other various friends and associates to board and breed their thoroughbreds on his property. One of these, boxing legend Jack Dempsey, made continual use of these facilities until Willard Mack's death in the mid-1930's. During Willard Mack's stewardship of this property, the famous Arabiam Stallion (sire of numerous Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winning thoroughbreds) "Broomstick", was also a temprary resident. The property has since been purchased and maintained by private owners.
[edit] On the National Register of Historic Places
- Farwell Barn, Horsebarn Hill Rd.
- Mansfield Center Cemetery, jct. of Storrs and Cemetery Rds.
- Mansfield Center Historic District, Storrs Rd.
- Mansfield Hollow Historic District, 86-127 Mansfield Hollow Rd.
- Mansfield Training School and Hospital, jct. of Route 32 & U.S. Route 44
- University of Connecticut Historic District--Connecticut Agricultural School, roughly Route 195/Storrs Rd. at Eagleville Rd.
[edit] In the media
For the most part, Mansfield is a safe place. In 2005, Slate named Storrs "America's Best Place to Avoid Death Due to Natural Disaster". In the eyes of some, this makes for a sleepy town and has given rise to tongue-in-cheek assertions that residents are driven to cow tipping out of boredom. That said, university students have, on occasion, livened up the atmosphere by rioting. In 1998, for instance, "100 officers in riot gear were needed to control a crowd overturning and igniting cars, smashing windows and tearing down lampposts." News outlets as far afield as Japan have reported on the annual "full-blown chaos." [2] Mansfield has also garnered attention in state media for a number of missteps made by the university. The Hartford Courant has drawn attention to water issues in the town, including the pumping of the Fenton River dry (in 2005) and, notably, contaminated groundwater and cancer clusters in the town (cf. A Civil Action and Erin Brockovich). [3]
[edit] Miscellaneous
U.S. Route 6 passes through the southern part of Mansfield as an isolated stretch of divided highway, part of the planned but never realized interstate between Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island. As a result of poor state planning, construction began midway between Hartford and Providence, far removed from population centers. When opposition arose and complications developed, the project was shelved, with only stranded parts of the highway completed. More details may be found at NYC Roads and Kurumi.
[edit] Notable people, past and present
- Abigail Williams one of the young girls who accused residents of Salem, Massachusetts of being witches, leading to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, died in Mansfield, year unknown.
- Wilbur Lucius Cross, (1862-1948), was a well-known literary critic and the Democratic Governor of Connecticut from 1931 to 1939, was born in town. Part of Route 15 is now named the Wilbur Cross Parkway.
- Charles Emory Smith, postmaster general in the cabinet of Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt (1898-1902), ambassador to Russia and newspaper editor, was born in town.
- Rivers Cuomo (b.1970), lead singer/guitarist of the alternative rock band Weezer, grew up in Storrs and attended the local secondary school, E.O. Smith High School.
- Peter Tork (Peter Halsten Thorkelson, b.1942) of The Monkees attended E.O.Smith; he was class of '59 and made the class of 2005 Commencement speech.
- Wendy O. Williams (1949 - 1998), lead singer for the 1970s and 80s punk rock band the Plasmatics lived in Storrs from 1991 until her death in 1998 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 117.8 km² (45.5 mi²). 115.2 km² (44.5 mi²) of it is land and 2.7 km² (1.0 mi²) of it (2.26%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 20,720 people, 5,291 households, and 3,121 families residing in the town. The population density was 179.9/km² (466.0/mi²). There were 5,481 housing units at an average density of 47.6/km² (123.3/mi²). The ethnic makeup of the town was 83.91% White, 4.87% African American, 0.20% Native American, 7.15% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.88% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.31% of the population.
There were 5,291 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.92.
The age distribution, heavily influenced by UConn, is 13.3% under the age of 18, 44.8% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 14.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $48,888, and the median income for a family was $69,661. Males had a median income of $42,154 versus $32,292 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,094. About 4.7% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
| Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[4] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Active Voters | Inactive Voters | Total Voters | Percentage | |
| Democratic | 3,683 | 251 | 3,934 | 36.93% | |
| Republican | 1,322 | 78 | 1,400 | 13.14% | |
| Unaffiliated | 4,709 | 606 | 5,315 | 49.90% | |
| Minor Parties | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.03% | |
| Total | 9,717 | 935 | 10,652 | 100% | |
[edit] Named places within Mansfield
- Atwoodville
- Chaffeeville
- Chestnut Hill
- Conantville
- Eagleville
- Four Corners
- Gurleyville
- Hanks Hill
- Mansfield Center
- Mansfield City
- Mansfield Depot
- Mansfield Hollow
- Merrow
- Mount Hope
- Perkins Corner
- Spring Hill
- Storrs
- Wormwood Hill
[edit] References
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates
- ^ MacNamara, Roger D. "The Mansfield Training School is closed: the swamp has been finally drained.", Mental Retardation, June 1994, p. 239-42.
- ^ "Big Bad Neighbor: What if you were one of the little people next to UConn?", The Hartford Courant, March 17, 2002, p. 3 (Northeast).
- ^ Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 25, 2005 (PDF). Connecticut Secretary of State. Retrieved on 2006-10-02.
[edit] External links
- Town Web Page
- Southeast Elementary School
- Dorothy C. Goodwin Elementary School
- Annie E. Vinton Elementary School
- Mansfield Middle School
- Edwin O. Smith High School
- Mystic Country: The Eastern Regional Tourism District
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