Companies formed to provide transportation infrastructure include the Farmington Canal Company, which was chartered by the state in 1822, the goal being to provide a better, less expensive alternative than the road network for commercial transport. Industries such as shipbuilding, bridge-building and aircraft engine manufacturing also contributed to transportation infrastructure development and held an important place in the state’s economy. Examples include the Robert Palmer & Son Ship Building and Marine Railway Company, which had a large operation in Noank, Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, and the Berlin Iron Bridge Company in Berlin, which built numerous bridges throughout the northeast and beyond. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad network connected the major cities of New England to each other and to the rest of the country, and served an important role in armed forces transport during both world wars. To find more resources about transportation in Connecticut, use the topic headings and other keywords within records to extend your searches--terms such as “railroad*,” “interstate highways,” (enclosing phrases in quotes, and using an * to allow for singular, plural or other forms), and the names of organizations. Exploring the collections to which individual items belong can be another way to find more items of interest.
