The New International Encyclopædia/Meriden

MER′IDEN. A city in New Haven County, Conn., 18 miles north-northeast of New Haven, and the same distance south-southwest of Hartford; on the New York, New Haven and Hartford, and the Meriden, Waterbury and Middletown Railroad, a branch of the former (Map: Connecticut, D 3). It is picturesquely situated, overlooked by the Hanging Hills on the northwest, and is drained by Harbor Brook. Meriden is one of the most prosperous industrial centres in New England. Among its manufactures are silver and plated ware, hardware, cutlery, steel pens, bronzes, brass castings, malleable iron, firearms, organs, self-playing attachments for pianos and organs, glassware, cut glass, curtain fixtures, gas and kerosene fixtures, screws, vises, and machinery. The city has the Connecticut School for Boys (Reform), Meriden Hospital, Curtis Home for Orphan Children and Aged Women, and the handsome Curtis Memorial Library. Hubbard Park is a beautiful natural reservation of 900 acres, within the limits of which are the Hanging Hills, the highest point rising 1000 feet above sea level. Another attraction is Lake Merimere.

The government, under a charter of 1897, is vested in a mayor, elected every two years; a bicameral council; and administrative officials, appointed or elected as follows: by the mayor—boards of apportionment and taxation, public works, and police, fire, and park commissioners; by the council—tax-collector, plumbing inspector, fire marshal, boiler inspector, health officer, and board of compensation; by the people—clerk, treasurer, auditor, and sheriffs. The city owns and operates its water works. Population, in 1890, 21,652; in 1900, 24,296. From 1725 until incorporated in 1806 as a town under its present name (probably from Meriden, Eng.), Meriden was a parish of Wallingford. In 1867 it was chartered as a city. Consult Perkins, Historical Sketches of Meriden (West Meriden, 1849).