#8: Raymond Schmitt rebuilt Johnsonville to suit himself
The old Connecticut mill village had already lost the industry that created it when aerospace millionaire Raymond Schmitt began assembling Johnsonville during the 1960s. He purchased the remaining mill property and much of the surrounding village, then did something unusual with his private town: he added history that had never originally belonged there. A Victorian chapel arrived from elsewhere. So did a stable and a sternwheel boat. Antique carriages, lamps, and period objects filled the buildings until Johnsonville became part preserved settlement, part personal collection, part open-air museum.
