Click on photograph to enlarge Thomaston Historical Society Collection |
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Click on photograph to enlarge Thomaston Historical Society Collection |
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| Captain Samuel
Watts was a very successful sea captain, ship builder and entrepreneur. In
addition to his businesses in Thomaston, he owned large properties in New
York and invested heavily in railroads as our country expanded into the western
territories. He and his wife and only child, Mary Jane, spent considerable
time in New York but his first love was always the town of Thomaston. He
originally owned a substantial Greek Revival Cape on Knox Street, where his
family lived until 1842. As he gained in prosperity, becoming one of our
nation's first millionaires, he moved that house to the lot directly to
the south and built a huge mansion which became a showcase of architecture.
Both houses still stand and are occupied as private dwellings. Watts showed his generous nature when he built a large brick building on the corner of Main and Knox Streets which he dedicated to the Town of Thomaston on November 29, 1890, for public use. Unfortunately, the building burned to the ground some years later in a fire that began in the stable behind the building. In a tribute to her late father, Mary Jane Watts had the building rebuilt in 1912 and donated it to the town once again. The building has a theatre on the second floor and retail and office spaces on the first floor. |
