Plainfield

Plainfield
Author: Plainfield Historical Society
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2007-08-15
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 1439634785

There are two dozen places in the United States named Plainfield, but Plainfield, Connecticut, was the first. When it was incorporated in 1699, Colonial governor Fitz-John Winthrop named the town for its rich, fertile fields along the Quinebaug River. During the 1700s, the town was transformed from Native American country to a farming community populated by English settlers. In the 1800s, textile mills were built along the Moosup and Quinebaug Rivers, and Plainfield became an industrial town attracting workers from all over New England, Canada, and Europe. Today the textile industry is gone, and the surviving mills have been converted to other uses. Located in the northeastern part of the state, Plainfield is in the heart of the breathtaking Quinebaug-Shetucket National Heritage Corridor.

Plainfield

Plainfield
Author: Tim Smith
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0738594385

Plainfield is Will County's oldest community. The area along the DuPage River was originally home to the Potawatomi Indians. By 1830, a small settlement called Walker's Grove was developed along the DuPage River south of where the village is located today. During the Black Hawk War, these settlers constructed and took refuge at Fort Beggs, named after Rev. Stephen Beggs. In 1834, the village of Plainfield was platted by Chester Ingersoll. This book spans the early settlement, the Civil War years, and the commercial development of the 19th century well into the 20th century and includes a chapter on the 1990 tornado. Tim and Michelle will share the many images taken from early glass negatives in addition to a collection of rare documents and paper items from early Plainfield. These images lend the opportunity to reflect upon Plainfield's rich history.