Picture Tolland: The Stagecoach Era

TOLLAND, CT — Stagecoaches were not just reserved for the Wild West in the 19th century. The latest installment of the Picture Tolland series takes us back to the early part of the 1800s, when the town was the hub for northeastern Connecticut. An image from the Tolland Historical Society archives shows a stagecoach on the Tolland Green.

Tolland resident Marshall A. Atwater tells us in his book, "Stagecoaches and Railroads in Tolland, Vernon and Rockville, 1807-1863" that stagecoaches became the first transportation system for long-distance overland travel. In the 1830s, more than 50 stagecoaches a week traveled between Hartford, Worcester and Boston through Vernon and Tolland.

It was in the "Golden Age of Tolland," the books tells us.

Building the railroad from Hartford through Vernon to Willimantic in 1849 led to the demise of long-distance stagecoaches through the area by 1851. The textile industry formed in Vernon about 1810 and expanded in Rockville in the 1840s. Sufficient water power provided energy for many textile mills. A railroad connection between Vernon and Rockville in 1863 ended the stagecoach era, according to the book.

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Picture Tolland is a periodic series featuring images of the town, past and present.