Community Corner

Hidden Gems Of Hartford And Tolland Counties

The latest Hidden Gem trek takes us to a significant Civil War artifact.

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A keg and smaller containers from the Hazard Powder Company in Enfield at the New England Civil War Museum and Research Center in Vernon.
A keg and smaller containers from the Hazard Powder Company in Enfield at the New England Civil War Museum and Research Center in Vernon. (Chris Dehnel/Patch )

VERNON, CT — The latest Hidden Gem can be found inside a previously featured Hidden Gem.

It's an old powder keg from the War Between the States that's part of a revised exhibit at the New England Civil War Museum and Research Center. The museum is located in the second floor of Vernon's town hall in a fully preserved former Grand Army of the Republic Hall.

The powder keg was from the Hazard Powder Company in Enfield, a major contributor the the Union victory.

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The museum staff tells us that, founded in 1835, the black powder mills on the Scantic River adopted their name in 1843, when Augustus G. Hazard assumed controlling interest. Under "the Colonel," the company established itself as one of the most prominent in Connecticut with black powder being shipped all over the country. At the time of the Civil War, Hazard's production was second in the nation to the DuPont Mills in Delaware.

The Enfield mills sprawl over 100 acres and used both water and steam power to turn the grinding wheels. With the Union Army demanding as much powder as it could get, the mills were operating 24 hours a day with 300 workers.

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By 1864, the company was producing about 12,000 pounds of powder a day — about 40 percent of the Union Army's usage.

Following Hazard's death in 1868, DuPont assumed majority control of the company and continued to operate until Jan. 14, 1913, when a series of explosions heard as far as 10 miles away killed two employees and destroyed most of the mill. The site was permanently closed and the equipment moved to Valley Falls, NY.

Enfield resident Peter Floyd Sorenson recently published a book entitled, "Hazard Powder: the Powder Hollow Explosion of 1913." See more about the book here.

To see the powder keg and other Civil War artifacts with Connecticut connections, visit the museum. See the hours of operation here.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.
Other columns in this series:

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