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Meriden, Connecticut
West Main Street, Meriden
West Main Street, Meriden
Official seal of Meriden, Connecticut
Seal
Nickname(s): 
The Silver City
Location in New Haven County, Connecticut
Country  United States
U.S. state  Connecticut
County New Haven
Metropolitan area New Haven
Incorporated (town) 1806
Incorporated (city) 1867
Consolidated 1922
Government
 • Type Council-manager
Area
 • Total 24.16 sq mi (62.58 km2)
 • Land 23.80 sq mi (61.64 km2)
 • Water 0.36 sq mi (0.94 km2)
Elevation
177 ft (54 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 60,850
 • Density 2,557/sq mi (987.2/km2)
Time zone UTC−05:00 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−04:00 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes
06450, 06451
Area code(s) 203/475
FIPS code 09-46450
GNIS feature ID 0208834

Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.

History

Solomon Goffe House 2007
Solomon Goffe House (1711), Meriden (2007)
Meriden, CT - City Hall - Lincoln plaque 01
Plaque commemorating Abraham Lincoln's visit to Meriden in 1860 in front of City Hall (2012)
MeridenCTBritanniaCoFactory1881
Meriden Britannia Co. electro-gold and silverplating factory, 1881)
Stand by Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Co. (Meriden CT), with Longwy ceramic inserts (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France), c. 1885, brass, glazed earthenware - Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn, NY - DSC08803
A stand manufactured by the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company, Meriden, c. 1885 exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibition 19th century Modern (2011–12)
Punch Bowl on Stand LACMA M.91.320.6
In the Los Angeles County Museum of Art collection, a punch bowl (1895) made by the Meriden Cut Glass Company, a subsidiary of the Wilcox Silver Plate Co., that later became part of the International Silver Company.
Flask, Napier Company, Meriden, Connecticut, 1925-1930, silver - Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn, NY - DSC08831
Flask manufactured by the Napier Company, Meriden, 1925-1930, exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibition 19th century Modern (2011–12)
16-Colony-St.-June-2015-2
2015 photo of Home National Bank building designed by McKim, Mead & White, downtown Meriden. The building has been repurposed as a disco/music venue.

18th century

Meriden was originally a part of the neighboring town of Wallingford. It was granted a separate meetinghouse in 1727, became a town in 1806 with over 1000 residents, and incorporated as a city in 1867 with just under 9000 residents. It was once proposed as the Connecticut state capital. It was named for the town of Meriden, West Midlands, England, near Birmingham. Popular myth also states that it is named after the Merry Den tavern that may have been located near present-day U.S. Route 5.

The oldest house in town still standing, built by Solomon Goffe in 1711, became a museum in 1986, the Solomon Goffe House.

The grave of Winston Churchill's great-great-great maternal grandfather, Timothy Jerome, can be seen today at what is now called "Burying Ground 1720" (Google Maps: 41.522877, -72.787707) at the juncture of Dexter Avenue and Lydale Place. At the time the location was known as "Buckwheat Hill," and overlooked the salt-making estate for which Jerome had received a royal grant. Timothy Jerome's son, Samuel, is the great-great grandfather of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill's mother.

19th century to WWII

In the 1800s, Meriden became a manufacturing center of note, with several companies forming, or relocating to the city, including the Meriden Britannia Company (a predecessor of the International Silver Company with corporate HQ in Meriden), C.F. Monroe Company (1892–1916), Charles Parker Company, Parker Brothers (guns), Manning, Bowman & Co. (1849–1945), the Meriden Flint Glass Company (1876–92), Edward Miller & Co / Miller Company (1844–present), Wilcox and White, Handel Company (lamps), and the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company (1852–1940). Meriden earned the nickname "Silver City", due to the large number of silver manufacturers. In addition to hollowware, Meriden was also a significant center of cutlery production (various silver companies, Meriden Cutlery and Miller Bros. Cutlery. The small city is also for the historical production of glass and lamps. During this time, several mansions and houses of note were built, particularly on Broad Street.

Charles Parker and his younger brother opened their first factory in Meriden in 1832, with a capital outlay of $70.00. Over the years they manufactured a wide variety of products‚ from steam engines, train wheels and printing presses to piano stools. During the Civil War, Parker's Meriden Machine Company was under Union contract to produce 10,000 repeating rifles and 15,000 Springfield rifles. Parker began producing his own shotgun, referred to as "The Gun of 1866". In 1868, Charles and his sons, Wilbur, Charles and Dexter, started the Parker Brothers Gun Company, which continued as an independent company until 1934 when it was purchased by the Remington Arms Company.

On March 7, 1860, Abraham Lincoln spoke in Meriden seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

Meriden, CT - Masjid al Rawdah 01
2012 photo of Isaac C. Lewis mansion (1868) at 189 East Main Street, Meriden. Since 1950, the building has been used for other purposes. Since 2012 it is a mosque.
Meriden city hall July 2015b
2015 photo of Meriden City Hall (1907) with Civil War monument in the foreground. This building replaced two previous designs (1869–89 and 1889–1904, the latter destroyed by fire).

In 1876, the Meriden Britannia Company made significant efforts at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and won the First Place medal for plated wares. According to the Sotheby's auction house, "The publicity of the award and the impression the firm made on the fair's 8 million visitors was continued by the catalogues and other intensive marketing; by the end of the 1870s Meriden Britannia Co. was considered the largest silverware company in the world."

Meriden also was an important site for graphic arts innovation. In 1888, the Meriden Gravure Company (in Meriden 1888–1989) was founded by Charles Parker and James F. Allen, and continued a previous printing operation by Parker. The company developed an expertise in high quality image reproduction, which initially was driven by the needs of the silver industry.

Hubbard Park in the Hanging Hills was financed by Walter Hubbard (of the Bradley & Hubbard company). The design for the park was originally conceived by Hubbard in consultation with the Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s foremost landscape architect. In 1900, Castle Craig on a peak was dedicated in the park.

The Curtis Memorial Library opened in 1903. The Meriden Firearms Co. manufactured small arms from 1905 to 1918. The stock was owned by Sears, Roebuck & Company.

Hollywood connection (1937–50)

From 1937 until 1947, the International Silver Company sponsored the Silver Theater, a national radio program broadcast via CBS in Hollywood. The radio program featured many Hollywood actors and actresses of the time like Jimmy Stewart and Rosalind Russell. Over 200 programs were produced. In c. 1941, several Hollywood stars endorsed the company's silverware in print advertisements in LIFE magazine. After World War II, in 1949/50, The Silver Theatre was brought to television and broadcast on CBS, also with the International Silver Company as the sponsor. Guest stars included Eva Gabor, Kim Hunter, and Burgess Meredith.

Legacy of Meriden's grand manufacturing era

Many design objects from this manufacturing era from Meriden are in leading museums across the United States including those in Boston; at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York (28 objects); Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; Toledo, Ohio; and Washington, DC. Design objects from this era from Meriden have also been included in notable exhibitions since at least 1867, with Meriden Britannia products on view at the Paris Universal Exhibition. Some comparatively recent examples include In pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1986–87), and more recently, Modernism in American Silver: 20th century design (2005–06) in Dallas, Miami Beach, and Washington, DC, which highlighted downtown Meriden and the area's role as an important center of Modernist silver production. In 19th century Modern (2011–12) in Brooklyn, designs by the International Silver Company and the Napier Company, another Meriden manufacturer, were exhibited alongside iconic designs by Tiffany & Co. and the Thonet Brothers. In November 2016-November 2017, the city's iconic Napier penguin cocktail shaker will be in an exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art; the Napier penguin is the lead image of the show.

With this level of attention, some special design objects from the era have become sought-after collectors items also at auction, sometimes due to their association with the commission or commissioner, or the product designer. For example, a painted glass and metal table lamp by Bradley and Hubbard, (c. 1920) sold for USD$14,950, doubling its estimate, at Christie's auction house in New York in 1999. Later, a 14-inch, International Silver Company cocktail shaker (c. 1927) sold for USD$21,600 tripling its estimate, at Christie's in New York in 2005. A Parker gun made for a Russian czar before World War I, but never delivered, was reported to have been sold for USD$287,500 in 2007. In 2008, a rare Handel lamp sold for USD$85,000. On March 5–6, 2014 at Sotheby's in London, "Al Capone's cocktail shaker" made by the Meriden International Sterling Company (c. 1932) achieved over 33 times its estimate with a sale price of GBP50,000 (USD$83,250 on the day). Lastly, in 2014, at Sotheby's New York, a rare Paul Lobel-designed coffee service (c. 1934–35) produced by the Wilcox Silver Plate Co. / International Silver Company sold for USD$377,000.

WWII – 21st century

In 1939, Edwin Howard Armstrong, a network radio pioneer who invented FM radio, used West Peak in 1939 for the location of one of the first FM radio broadcasts. His original 70-foot-tall (21 m) radio mast still stands on the peak. Currently West Peak is home to six FM broadcast stations, including WNPR, WWYZ, WKSS, WDRC-FM, WMRQ-FM and WHCN.

During World War II, factories in Meriden worked three shifts (24 hours/day). On March 8, 1944, the War Manpower Commission gave Meriden the designation as "National Ideal War Community", and Jimmy Durante and Glenn Miller entertained those at the ceremeny.

Victory Boogie Woogie
Piet Mondriaan Victory Boogie Woogie.jpg
Artist Piet Mondrian
Year 1942–44
Medium Oil and paper on canvas
Dimensions 127 cm × 127 cm (50 in × 50 in)
Location Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Formerly owned by Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. and Emily and Burton Tremaine / The Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art, Meriden, CT.


In addition to manufacturers that continued operations after World War II, starting in the later 1940s, the Miller Company, Burton Tremaine, Sr. and Emily Hall Tremaine firmly put Meriden on the international, 20th century art/design map. In December 1947, Meriden became known once again as a site of design innovation, now with Modern art, via the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art and the organization of a Painting toward architecture exhibition which opened at Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum and later travelled to venues in 24 American cities (1947–52), including the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Houston's Contemporary Art Museum, and the Milwaukee Art Institute. The exhibition featured and referred to the leading Modernists in American and European art and architecture with a connection to then-Miller Company lighting designs. Artworks in the Meriden-based collection included those by Picasso, Braque, Gris, Mondrian, Jose de Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and Stuart Davis, with photographs on Modern architecture design by Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius (Bauhaus), Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Mies van der Rohe. Substantial national media coverage reported on the exhibition, as well as regional media outlets when the show was on view. Painting toward architecture is considered one of the important art exhibitions of the 20th century.

In the 1950s, the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art was privatized to "Mr & Mrs Burton Tremaine, Meriden, CT" and numerous artworks were lent for exhibitions nationally and internationally into the 1970s with this designation. One highlight includes two of their artworks included in 'Cézanne to Miró' (1968) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, an exhibition that later traveled to Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Caracas.

Miller-Co.-Philip-Johnson-Addition 6-2015-2
Photo of the black-and-white Modernist facade of the Miller Company addition, designed by international architect Philip Johnson, built in 1965. Center Street, Meriden, CT. (The original design featured the Miller Company logo, which was influenced by Bauhaus design legend Josef Albers and Serge Chermayeff). Photo in 2015.

In 1965, the Miller Company addition on Center Street was completed. The black-and-white Modernist facade was designed by influential American architect Philip Johnson.

On April 27, 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned at city hall and the Latin American Society for the nomination of the Democratic Party for President of the United States.

In 1987, the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation was founded by the noted art collector that partly worked in Meriden, before her passing, with three focus areas: learning disabilities, the arts, and the environment. The offices were located in downtown Meriden. The foundation is very well-known nationally and frequently mentioned in the national American fine art press and exhibition catalogues as a funder. In c. 2010, the foundation offices were relocated to New Haven, near Yale University.

Meriden was a location chosen for the filming of the 1989 film Jacknife directed by David Jones starring Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Kathy Baker. De Niro played a Vietnam War veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder adjusting to a return to American life. The film was adapted by the play, Strange Snow by Stephen Metcalfe, a native from the adjacent town of Cheshire, Connecticut. A number of Meriden locations can be seen in the film, including a historic house on Linsley Avenue, as well as film locations in the greater region.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist have their mother house in Meriden, as do the Franciscan Brothers of the Eucharist.

Geography

South Mountain
The Hanging Hills and Hubbard Park, and Meriden below (2003)
Quinnipiac-River-Connecticut
The Quinnipiac River as it winds through the Quinnipiac River Gorge in South Meriden

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.5 km²), of which 23.8 square miles (61.5 km²) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²), or 1.66%, is water.

Meriden is a showcase for a number of prominent peaks of the Metacomet Ridge, a mountainous trap rock ridgeline that stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. Notable peaks in Meriden include the Hanging Hills (West Peak, East Peak, South Mountain, and Cathole Mountain); Lamentation Mountain, Chauncey Peak, and Besek Mountain. Castle Craig, a city landmark for over a century, was constructed among the Hanging Hills in Hubbard Park.

The Quinnipiac River courses through the southwest quadrant of the city, known to area residents as "South Meriden", where it meanders through a gorge lined with several exposed sandstone and brownstone cliffs. Harbor Brook (originally named Pilgrim Harbor Brook) cuts through the town from the northeast to the southwest before emptying into Hanover Pond, an impoundment on the Quinnipiac River in South Meriden.

Principal communities

  • Meriden Center
  • South Meriden

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1820 1,309
1870 8,893
1880 15,540 74.7%
1890 21,652 39.3%
1900 24,296 12.2%
1910 27,265 12.2%
1920 29,867 9.5%
1930 38,481 28.8%
1940 39,494 2.6%
1950 44,088 11.6%
1960 51,850 17.6%
1970 55,959 7.9%
1980 57,118 2.1%
1990 59,479 4.1%
2000 58,244 −2.1%
2010 60,868 4.5%
2020 60,850 0.0%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the 2010 census, there were 60,868 people in Meriden, with a population density of 2558 persons per square mile. There were 23,922 households (2009–13). The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.10. Husband-wife households account for 41% of all households. The population under 5 years (2010) was 6.7%, under 18 years (2010) was 23.9%, and 65 years and over was 12.9%. The female population was 51.6% compared to the male population at 48.4% (2010).

The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 73.5% White, 9.7% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 10.7% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28.9% of the population. In 2009–2013, 9.7% of the population was foreign-born.

For 2009–13, the median household income was $52,590. The per capita income for the city was $26,941. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $188,400. The home ownership rate was 61.8%. The high school graduation or higher rate was 83.6% (age 25+) and the bachelor's degree or higher rate was 19.1% (age 25+). 14.4% of people were below the poverty line.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Highway

The city of Meriden is located on Interstate 91, which provides access to Hartford, Springfield, and New Haven. Interstate 691 provides access to Interstate 84 and connects to points west like Waterbury. The Wilbur Cross Parkway (Connecticut Route 15) travels in a southwestern direction connecting to towns and cities like Wallingford, New Haven, and towards New York City. The parkway becomes the Berlin Turnpike (also Connecticut Route 15) on the northern end of Meriden. U.S. Route 5 passes through the city as North and South Broad Street.

Northeast Regional at Meriden, November 2013
Photo of train at Meriden's train station in 2013

Railroad

The city of Meriden is connected to the cities of New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, Massachusetts, by regional rail service provided by Amtrak, which runs north-to-south through the center of the city. This rail line opened in 1839, and operated for many years under the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The city was also served by the Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury Railroad, which provided both freight and passenger service to Waterbury and Middletown from 1888 until its abandonment in 1924. Currently, Amtrak runs 16 trains through the Meriden station on most weekdays.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation added a commuter service called the Hartford Line in collaboration with Amtrak and the federal government that runs between New Haven and Springfield, Massachusetts. Service began in May 2018.

In the Quinnipiac River Gorge in South Meriden, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) of the original MW&CR Railroad right of way has been converted into a recreational rail trail as the Meriden Linear Trail. Open to the public in December 2006, the formal dedication occurred on November 3, 2007.

Bus

Beginning in 1784, Meriden had a stop on the New Haven-Hartford Stage Coach on Route 5 near the intersection of East Main Street. Years later, the same stop served as the bus stop for Greyhound and Peter Pan buses. Meriden had four daily departures to/from Hartford/Boston, and four daily departures to/from New Haven/New York daily from the 1970s through 2007, when intercity bus service ceased serving Meriden.

Meriden is linked to the Connecticut Transit System, Connecticut's extensive public transit bus network. Three bus lines loop throughout the city of Meriden once per hour. The "B" bus route departs the Meriden railroad station for the southern terminus of Kohls Plaza, connecting for New Haven; the "A" bus route departs the rail station for the northern terminus of Meriden Square with connections to New Britain and Hartford; and the east/west "C" bus travels along East Main and West Main Streets, with a handful of departures to Middletown and Waterbury.

Airport

Meriden Markham Municipal Airport is the city-owned airport, located 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the city center on the border of South Meriden and Yalesville, and serves private and charter planes.

Points of interest

Meriden West Main - small
Looking west from city hall to the downtown area, Meriden, CT. The Civil War monument (1873) is to the right, and the Hanging Hills are in the distance to the right. Photo in 2007.
Meriden, CT - Soldiers Monument 01
Close-up view of soldier on Civil War monument in Meriden (2012)
Curtis Memorial Library 2007
The Curtis Memorial Library building (2007)
Red-Bridge South-Meriden
Red Bridge, one of no more than fifteen lenticular pony truss bridges remaining in Connecticut.

Education

High-School-Meriden
Board of Education building, formerly Meriden High School

The Meriden Board of Education operates several public schools:

Public elementary schools (K–5)

  • John Barry
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Nathan Hale
  • Hanover
  • Thomas Hooker
  • Casimir Pulaski
  • Israel Putnam
  • Roger Sherman

Middle schools (6–8)

  • Lincoln (public)
  • Washington (public)
  • Edison (public)

High schools

  • Francis T. Maloney (public)
  • Orville H. Platt (public)
  • H. C. Wilcox (CT technical high school system)

Private schools

  • Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Other schools in the area include the Catholic high schools Xavier High School (boys) and Mercy High School (girls) in neighboring Middletown. The private schools Cheshire Academy and Choate Rosemary Hall are in adjacent Cheshire and Wallingford respectively.

The former St. Stanislaus Catholic K-8 School, established in 1897 by people who immigrated from Poland, closed in 2015.

Notable people

Since 1975, the Meriden Hall of Fame organization has issued recognitions. In the Meriden City Hall, plaques pay tribute to the inductees.

Arts and humanities

  • Beau Billingslea (born 1944), actor.
  • Gary Burr (born 1952), American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre
  • Miguel Cardona (born 1975), educator, United States secretary of education
  • Tomie dePaola (1934–2020), author and illustrator of over 200 children's books
  • Jennifer DiNoia (born 1982), singer and stage actress
  • Isabella Doerfler (1883–1954), artist who worked for the Federal Arts Project
  • Philip Dunning (1889–1968), playwright and theatrical producer
  • Addie C. Strong Engle (1845–1926), author, publisher
  • Ben Homer songwriter, composer and arranger who composed the tune to the hit song Sentimental Journey
  • Rob Hyman (born 1950), rock musician and founding member of The Hooters
  • Joe Marinelli (1957) Actor
  • Conrad Henry Moehlman, professor of church history and author
  • Rosa Ponselle (1897–1981), acclaimed opera singer
  • Charlotte J. Sternberg (1920–2003), painter

Military

  • Kevin Lacz (born 1981), Former United States Navy SEAL who served two tours in the Iraq War. Also an actor, author, public speaker and physician assistant.

Science and technology

  • Vincent Lamberti (1927–2014), lab researcher whose work resulted in 118 patents, most notably the development of Dove soap. He grew up in Meriden, later moving to Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Sports

  • John Jenkins (born 1989), National Football League defensive tackle ( Miami Dolphins; college football: University of Georgia; Maloney High School, Meriden)
  • Kid Kaplan (1901–1970), world champion featherweight boxer
  • Al Niemiec (1911–1995), Major League Baseball player
  • Gary Waslewski (born 1941), Major League Baseball player (1967–1972)

Images for kids

See also

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