Having already resided in the house at 122 Windham Street in Willimantic, Wilton E. Little (1859-1903) and his wife Edith Clark Little (1862-1935), sold the house and moved to a new home they built in 1896 at 333 Prospect Street. Little had risen up through the ranks at the W.G. & A.R. Morrison Company.
Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Willimantic began in 1916. A two-story at 226 Valley St was converted to a house of worship and rectory for its first pastor, Rev Joseph Kurila. Fr Joseph lived on the top floor with his family while the bottom floor was converted into a chapel. On November 3, 1948, the Holy Trinity Community purchased a parcel of land on the corner of Valley Street and Mansfield Avenue on which to build a permanent church. The foundation was poured in 1950, but due to financial limitations the church was not completed and consecrated until 1958. Church membership experienced a decline in the 1980s and 1990s, but has grown again since 2000 with the active support of the UConn Orthodox Christian Fellowship.
The Josephine Bingham House, at 22 North Road in Windham Center, is an Italianate T-shaped residence with a gable roof. Built in 1860, it was the residence of Miss Josephine Waldo Bingham (born 1846), who lived with her father, Waldo Bingham, and her step-mother, Elizabeth H. Bingham and continued to reside in the house after their deaths. She furnished wallpaper to St. Paul’s Church in 1888 and was an alternate Lady Manager of Connecticut for the World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893.
Built circa 1820, the Justin Swift House is a brick Federal-style residence at 9 North Road in Windham. Justin Swift (1793-1884) is described in the first volume of the Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties (1903):
Justin Swift, son of William, was born in Lebanon, Conn., Nov. 3, 1793, and married Lucy, daughter of John and Sally Lathrop. Mrs. Swift was born June 8, 1799, and died Sept. 20, 1876. To Justin and Lucy Swift came children as follows: Abby, born Jan. 22, 1821, died Sept. 14, 1835; William was born March 16. 1823; Sarah, born April 26, 1830, died Sept. 1, 1835; Julia A., born May 21, 1832, resides in Windham. and is the efficient librarian of the Windham Library. At the age of twenty-two years Justin Swift came to Windham. When a mere boy he engaged in merchandising, as a clerk, and later for himself, carrying on a general store in Windham for many years. For a period of five or six years he was interested with others in the manufacture of boots in Windham, but this venture was not successful. For a short time, also, he was interested in cottonmaking at Willimantic, and purchased the old paper mill property at North Windham, put in cottonmaking machinery, and carried it on very successfully until 1862, when he disposed of the property to the Merricks. This property was twice destroyed by fire, the first time by the torch of an incendiary, and second by lightning. Through life Justin Swift was an active, energetic man. In politics he was first a Federalist, then a Whig, finally a Republican, and he was a factor in the public life of the town. Twice he served as Representative, elected in a strong Democratic town, on the Whig ticket, after holding all of the local offices, including those of selectman, assessor, member of the board of relief, etc. For many years he was judge of probate, remaining in office until disqualified by the age limit, seventy years. In belief he adhered to the Christian religion, and he was one of the leading men of his day. His death occurred in Windham, Oct. 17, 1884.
The house at 183 Prospect Street in Willimantic was built around 1887 to be the home of Arthur I. Bill, editor and publisher of the Willimantic Journal. He also had a printing plant on lower Church Street in Willimantic, having started the Hall & Bill Printing Company in 1884.
The James Reid House, at 88 Windham Road in Willimantic, was built in 1879-1880 by the Willimantic Linen Company for its chemist and dye master, James M. Reid. It stands next to the home of Eugene S. Boss, the company’s manager. After 1960, the Reid house was home to the Hallahan and Cardinal funeral home (pdf).
Dwight E. Potter (1840-1911) was a carpenter and builder based in Willimantic. As head carpenter for the Willimantic Linen Company, he designed and constructed mill buildings, an office building and worker housing and was superintendent of all outside work. He also helped to build the Loomer Opera House on Main Street and ran a woodworking shop that produced interior and exterior architectural millwork for Willimantic’s Victorian-era houses. Potter was chief of Willimantic’s fire department from 1873 to 1880. In 1881, Potter and his first wife, Mary Ann Hazen, moved into a house he had designed and erected at 76 Windham Road. The house is now home to the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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