Meriden (US-CT)
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Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford.
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 1000 residents, and incorporated as a city in 1867 with just under 9000 residents. It was once proposed as the Connecticut state capital. It was named for the town of Meriden, West Midlands, England, near Birmingham. Popular myth also states that it is named after the Merry Den tavern that may have been located near present-day U.S. Route 5.
n the 1800s, Meriden became a manufacturing center of note, with several companies forming, or relocating to the city, including the Meriden Britannia Company (a predecessor of the International Silver Company with corporate HQ in Meriden), C.F. Monroe Company (1892–1916), Charles Parker Company, Parker Brothers (guns), Manning, Bowman & Co. (1849–1945), the Meriden Flint Glass Company (1876–92), Edward Miller & Co / Miller Company (1844–present), Wilcox and White, Handel Company (lamps), and the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company (1852–1940). Meriden earned the nickname "Silver City", due to the large number of silver manufacturers. In addition to hollowware, Meriden was also a significant center of cutlery production (various silver companies, Meriden Cutlery and Miller Bros. Cutlery. The small city is also for the historical production of glass and lamps. During this time, several mansions and houses of note were built, particularly on Broad Street.
Charles Parker and his younger brother opened their first factory in Meriden in 1832, with a capital outlay of $70.00. Over the years they manufactured a wide variety of products‚ from steam engines, train wheels and printing presses to piano stools. During the Civil War, Parker's Meriden Machine Company was under Union contract to produce 10,000 repeating rifles and 15,000 Springfield rifles. Parker began producing his own shotgun, referred to as "The Gun of 1866". In 1868, Charles and his sons, Wilbur, Charles and Dexter, started the Parker Brothers Gun Company, which continued as an independent company until 1934 when it was purchased by the Remington Arms Company.
On March 7, 1860, Abraham Lincoln spoke in Meriden seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
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."
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