Winsted, Connecticut | |
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CDP | |
![]() Sarah E. Harvey, Winsted, Connecticut, ca. 1877, Princeton University Art Museum
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Nickname(s): Laurel City | |
Location within the state of Connecticut | |
Coordinates: 41°55′21″N 73°4′11″W / 41.92250°N 73.06972°W | |
State | Connecticut |
County | Litchfield |
Incorporated | 1858 (borough) 1917 (city) |
Government | |
• Type | Council-manager |
• Town manager | Dale L. Martin |
• Mayor | Mary Ann Welcome |
Area | |
• Total | 4.8 sq mi (12.5 km2) |
• Land | 4.7 sq mi (12.1 km2) |
• Water | 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2) |
Elevation | 709 ft (216 m) |
Population (2000) | |
• Total | 7,321 |
• Density | 1,563.6/sq mi (603.7/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP codes | 06063, 06094, 06098 |
Area code(s) | 860 |
FIPS code | 09-87350 |
GNIS feature ID | 0212198 |
Website | http://www.townofwinchester.org/ |
Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester, Connecticut. The population was 7,321 at the 2000 census.
Settled in 1750, the city of Winsted was formed at the junction of the Mad River and Still River, and was one of the first mill towns in Connecticut. Manufactured products started with scythes at the Winsted Manufacturing Company in 1792. The city is within the town of Winchester, and its name derives from the fact that it is the business center for the towns of Winchester and Barkhamsted.
Winsted, along with New Haven, Connecticut, was a center for the production of mechanical clocks in the 1900s. The Gilbert Clock Company, located along the Still River north of town, was founded in 1871 by William L. Gilbert (1806‑1890) and became one of the largest clock companies in the world around the start of the 20th century.
The Winsted post office contains an oil on canvas mural, Lincoln's Arbiter Settles the Winsted Post Office Controversy, painted by muralist Amy Jones in 1938. Federally commissioned murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.