Video Shows a Look Back at Life Along the Naugatuck River
When you search 'Waterbury - Naugatuck River', the flood of 1955 dominates the results. There is a rich history along the Naugatuck River in the Brooklyn and Waterville neighborhoods of Waterbury if you dig a bit deeper. The Brooklyn that my grandmother grew up in on Washington Ave is gone, but I just watched a video on YouTube that showcases vintage photos and real testimonials from Waterbury residents that really made me feel like I was listening to my grandma and my parents chatting about the world they grew up in.
The video is titled 'Waterbury Neighborhoods - Life on the Naugatuck River', and it was uploaded by Geomatrix Productions. It's pretty well done, besides the butchering of Felix Panasci's name.
I remember my dad talking about the old Lithuanian market in Brooklyn, and most of my family worked at Scovill at one point of their lives. It's funny, my relationship with the Naugatuck River has been a complicated one. I really remember the pollution and foul stench of the river in the 70's and 80's. God, that rank stench made it all the way up the hill into Town Plot every night. I always felt bad for Naugatuck though, you poor souls, it was even worse there.
Decades later, and through the work of thousands of hard workers, the Naugatuck River is running nearly as clean as the river you watched in that video. Ironically enough, I now live within a quarter mile of the Naugatuck River in Torrington, I get to smell that clean, beautiful river every time I walk out my front door. Cool video, it really took me back.