Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.
History
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 1,000 residents. Meriden was incorporated as a city in 1867, with just under 9,000 residents. It was once proposed as the Connecticut state capital. It was named for the village of Meriden, West Midlands, England, near Birmingham.
The oldest house in town still standing, built by Solomon Goffe in 1711, became a museum in 1986. The building is 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: ) 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 World War II
In the second half of the 1800s, Meriden became a manufacturing center of note, with several companies forming, or relocating to the city, involved in the production of mainly silver, lamps and metalware, glassware, guns, and musical instruments. A substantial number of design and technology patents were secured.
Silver and cutlery
For silver, the numerous companies included the Meriden Britannia Company (a predecessor of the International Silver Company with corporate HQ in Meriden), Meriden earned the nickname "Silver City", due to the large number of silver manufacturers, and the International Silver Co. continued production until the early 1980s. Along with the silver companies, other producers of cutlery included the Meriden Cutlery Co. and Miller Bros. Cutlery.
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." A key design attributed to launching the company and the town's international name was the Buffalo Hunt with a smaller edition in the White House collection, Washington, DC. For some time the original Buffalo Hunt sculpture went missing, and in a shocking report by Bailey Wright in 2018, it was learned that it was recently 'missing' actually in Meriden.
Lamps and metalware
For lamps and metalware, the companies with national and international markets included the Edward Miller & Co / Miller Company (1844–stopped manufacturing lighting ), the Charles Parker Company, Handel Company, and the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company (1852–1940), which also was widely known for producing metal-based products like decorative tables and andirons.
Glassware
For glassware, the companies included the C.F. Monroe Company (1892–1916). and the Meriden Flint Glass Company (1876–1892),
Kitchen appliances and guns
Manning, Bowman & Co. (1849–1945) centered its production in Meriden, and into the early 20th century became a nationally known producer of small electrical appliances and chrome ware. Meriden was also the site of the production of Parker Brothers (guns), widely-known and traded by firearms enthusiasts. From 1905 to 1918, the Meriden Firearms Co. manufactured small arms from 1905 to 1918. The stock was owned by Sears, Roebuck & Company.
Musical instruments including player pianos
Internationally known companies Wilcox and White and the Aeolian Company were involved in the production of musical instruments north of the downtown area at Tremont and Cambridge Streets. The Aeolian Company grew quickly forming production sites in other places and developed a music hall in New York. (The largest holder today of instruments and music rolls by the two companies is the Pianola Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.)