At the turn of the 20th century, the town of Hamden, Connecticut, "the Land of the Sleeping Giant," was a patchwork of small hamlets, largely rural and agricultural. During the next 100 years, it would undergo a dramatic transformation; as orchards and fields gave way to factories and subdivisions, Hamden's population grew from only a few thousand at the beginning of the century to over 60,000. In the time of war needs, local industries like the Web...