n 1857
article in The National Magazine described the Waterbury Green as a
beautiful city square surrounded by stately churches and elegant
private residences with extensive grounds and sparkling fountains,
all presenting "an appearance quiet unique for a manufacturing
town." Although Waterbury's glory as an affluent industrial hub has
long since faded, anyone who looks beyond the city's frayed edges
will discover many worthy remnants of the halcyon days of the Brass
City, including the Union Station clock tower, designed in1908 by
the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White. Around
the corner from the station the green itself has remained a city
focal point through good times and bad, as the scene of
Depression-era demonstrations, Victory Bond drives, end-of-war
celebrations, political rallies, and Viet Nam War protests. It
remains a prominent anchor for a continually transforming city
center that includes such welcome additions as the Mattatuck
Museum.
Laid out in the 1690s, Waterbury's green is an
old meetinghouse common that has survived through the years as a
symbol of continuity in a city substantially affected by the
post-war decline in brass manufacturing, the subsequent flight of
residents to the suburbs, and the construction of Interstate Route
84. Early accounts describe a boulder-strewn expanse of bog so wet
it had to be traversed by a corduroy road. The green's central
position, however, made it a natural location for a variety of
country diversions. When the traveling menagerie came to Waterbury,
it set up on the common. Children sailed toy boats in small ponds
that appeared after heavy rains, and skated on the green in winter.
After closing up shop clerks from the many stores bordering the
green played baseball on summer evenings.
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