WINDSOR LOCKS
Incorporated May 30, 1854, the town was formerly Pine Meadow district of
Windsor.
A Dutch trader, Captain Adriaen Block, came up the Connecticut River in the
spring of 1614 as far as Enfield Rapids.
The first three settlers were: Henry Denslow 1663, Nathaniel Gaylord - 1678,
and Abraham Dibble - 1708.
Seth Dexter founded the Dexter Company in 1767. The first one-horse-drawn
wagon in this area was made by David Birge in 1815.
The Windsor Locks Canal was completed in 1829. Charles Dexter was appointed
first postmaster in 1833.
The first town officials included Lucius Chapman, Talcott Mather, and Oliver
Hayden - Selectmen, and Charles Spencer - Town Clerk. The first town meeting
was held July 3, 1854.
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WINDSOR LOCKS
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Rail transportation was inaugurated in 1844. Trolley service began in 1904.
Public buses first operated June 24, 1924.
Bradley Field was opened as a military airbase in 1941. Commercial airlines
using the facility have served this area since 1947. It is now Bradley
International Airport.
Ella T. Grasso of Windsor Locks was elected first woman governor of
Connecticut in November, 1974.
Old Country Road is described in George Washington's diary under date of
October, 1789: "Between Windsor and Suffield you pass through level, barren
and uncultivated plain for miles." This refers to Windsor Locks.
Text transcribed from the cast town markers erected under Connecticut's town historical marker program in the 1970s and early 1980s. Presented as a historical record.