Manchester, a township of Hartford county, Connecticut, U.S.A., about 9 m. E. of Hartford. Pop.(1890), 8222; (1900), 10,601, of whom 3771 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 13,641. Manchester is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway and by electric line connecting with Hartford, Rockville and Stafford Springs. The township covers an area of about 28 sq. m., and includes the villages of Manchester, South Manchester, Buckland, Manchester Green and Highland Park. The Hockanum River provides a good water power, and Manchester has various manufactures. At South Manchester, an attractive industrial village, a silk mill was built in 1838; the silk mills of one firm (Cheney Brothers) here cover about 12 acres; the company has done much for its employees, whose homes are almost all detached cottages in attractive grounds. Manchester was originally a part of the township of Hartford, and later a part of the township of East Hartford. The first settlement within its present limits was made about 1672; the land was bought from the Indians in 1676; and the township was separated from East Hartford and incorporated in 1823.
See also Meakin's Model Factories and Villages (1905).
