Norwich (/ˈnɔːrwɪtʃ/ NOR-wich) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States.

[4] The town of Norwich was founded in 1659, on the site of what is now the neighborhood of Norwichtown, by settlers from Saybrook Colony led by Major John Mason, James Fitch,[5] and Lieutenant Francis Griswold.

The distance from the port to Norwichtown was served by the East and West Roads, which became Broadway and Washington Street.

By the late 18th century, shipping at the harbor became far more important than farming, especially when industrial mills began manufacturing on the three tributary rivers.

The ship captains of Norwich and New London were skillful at avoiding Imperial taxation during peacetime and were later just as successful eluding warships during the American Revolution.

Norwich supported the cause for independence by supplying soldiers, ships, and munitions, and it was also a center of activity for the Sons of Liberty.

[27] Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 19th century.

During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing.

Several Norwich neighborhoods maintain independent identities and are recognized by official signs marking their boundaries.

The museum has grown to include the "Art of Five Continents"—North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The AA Eastern League Connecticut Defenders, previously the Norwich Navigators, were a farm team of the San Francisco Giants and they played at Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium from both's inception in 1995 until the team announced its move to Richmond, Virginia for the 2010 season, where they are now known as the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

The park's property contains numerous hiking and biking trails, picnic tables, grills, pavilions for rent, a beach, basketball courts, a Mohegan monument, fountain and playgrounds.

The Park Center contains Spaulding Pond, the square, fountain, and Mohegan monument, both playgrounds and a dog pound run by the Norwich Police Department.

Spaulding Pond, the main body of water in Mohegan Park, is held back by an earthworks dam, across which is a path bordered by pergolas and flowering plants.

On March 6, 1963, long-term saturation of the over-100-year-old earthen content, along with unchecked shrub and tree growth, severely weakened the structural content of the dam and caused the waters of Spaulding Pond to burst forth into the city, causing the Great Flood of Norwich, elegantly chronicled in the 2013 book A Swift and Deadly Maelstrom; The Great Norwich Flood of 1963.

The break and subsequent flood flow pulverized houses with its large ice content, over-ran streets and cars while destroying the eastern half of the Turner-Stanton Mill, situated in the flood's direct path on Centennial Square.

It was there that the building collapsed, claiming the lives of six of the seven total who would die that night while causing over six million dollars in damage.

The main bus hub, the Norwich Transportation Center, is located on Holly Hock Island next to the downtown area.

Historically, the city held a railroad stop at its downtown station, which is now in use as an office for The Norwich Bulletin.