Union Station- Depot One
Apart from the mills one of the most important part of any industrial city is its railroads. At the heart of Willimantic’s rail connections was Union Station. The Union Station was thus named because of the different railroads that it serviced (The Central Vermont, New York, New Haven, and Hartford Lines). The station became the setting for many future proud moments for Willimantic, and like most aspects of a generally new city it was subject to changes.
Before the railroads had been put in place the industries in Willimantic had to use wagons to transport their wears to Norwich where they could then be shipped out. In the mid-1800s to change this tiresome practice Willimantic made plans for rail connections. Willimantic’s original station was built in 1850 and was completed for $2,225 dollars.
The town quickly found out however that their current setup was rather dangerous, and the depot would have to be moved. When it was originally built it was put in the middle of several of the train tracks which according to some reporting by The Hartford Courant led to some deadly accidents. One accident of note was a well-known man from town, not named by the Courant, who got cut to pieces by a train while trying to cross the tracks to get to the station.
