Mansfield, CT.

This photo was taken from where the four-story Eagleville mill once stood. Eagleville Lake was created as a reservoir for the mill's water power. The lake's water flowed underneath the mill through a race (channel) to turn a water wheel, then back into the river downstream. The water wheel powered the mill, which was established as the Willimantic Cotton Manufacturing Company in 1814, one of the first in Connecticut. When the Eagle Manufacturing Company took charge in 1822, the village became Eagleville. Rifle parts were made during the Civil War, then the mill returned to cotton production under several changes in ownership. When the textile business failed in 1931 during the Depression, inner-soles for shoes were made at the mill until it was abandoned in 1953 and then burned in 1956. Today the mill site is part of the Eagleville Lake recreation area managed by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. (History from the Willimantic River Alliance Website)