Eugene Boss House (1882)

Eugene Boss rose from being a bookkeeper for the Willimantic Linen Company (later the American Thread Company) to becoming the mill’s agent (or manager), a position he held from 1879 to 1916. He was, literally, boss at the mill. The company had a private rail network between its buildings and the train was pulled by an engine, the Helen B, named after Boss’ daughter. Boss’ house in Willimantic, on Windham Street, from which he could look down on the company’s mills, was built in the 1880s.