When discussing lost history, forgotten homes, mills and dams are often brought up. However, names can be lost as well. The area known as Addison once went by another name: Eagleville. It’s name came from the Eagle Manufacturing Company which produced woolen goods, including uniforms for the Union Army in the Civil War.
Located at the corner of Hebron Avenue and Mill Street, the business was sold to a young man by the name of Addison Clark in 1855. Five years later, Glastenbury Knitting Company (Now Addison Mill Apartments) was built upstream and a year after Clark’s death in 1897, the surrounding village was named Addison in his honor.
Addison Mill and dam still stands, now apartments but not much is left of the Eagle Mills, save for a few vestiges.
The biggest reminder of the past is a hulking dam just off Mill Street. It is made of large, rectangular stones with minimal water leaking through the middle, a sign that shows it remains in good condition. It sits over 20 feet high and spans a deep ravine which Salmon Brook flows through. Much of the area around the dam has been changed with the mill no longer standing but the dam itself is rather untouched.
There are what appear to be some reinforcements to the dam on the south side, as there is a second layer of stone. On the North side, a wall of stone abuts it at a 90 degree angle as a retaining wall. While the sluiceway doesn’t come up to the dam anymore, it can still be seen about 20 yards downstream from the dam under some thickets. It runs for 1o feet or so before disappearing into the road.
Along the north side, a piece has been removed in order to keep water flowing through and the height of the mill pond down. There isn’t much of a mill pond. If you didn’t know a dam was there, it would be easy to mistake it for a wide part of the brook as it flows through a narrow gully.
The dam is probably on private property, so venturing down to it is discouraged although it can be seen pretty easily from the road, especially in the non-foliage months. At worst, you can park your car at the lot across the street and look from the guardrail.
Lost Glastonbury 