First settled by families from East Windsor in 1716, Vernon was originally part of East Windsor and Bolton and was incorporated in 1808 by division of Bolton. In 1889, the City of Rockville, named from the Rock Mill, was incorporated within Vernon. Founded on the eve of the Industrial Revolution and endowed with abundant water power, Vernon developed into a major center for textile manufacturing. Peter Dobson built a cotton-spinning mill at Talcottville in 1809, and power looms were first employed there by the Rock Mill in 1821. In 1841, the New England Company began manufacturing fine woolens, accelerating the development of the woolen industry. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, immigrants provided the skilled labor force needed for further textile growth. Between 1892 and 1904, cloth from Rockville’s mills won national and international recognition, receiving awards at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892 and the Paris Exposition in 1900, and being chosen for the inaugural suits of Presidents William McKinley in 1897 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Central Park was laid out in 1878 as the commercial and governmental center of the town. The Memorial Building was erected in 1889 and dedicated to the 336 soldiers of Vernon who gave their lives in the Civil War, 1861-1865. After the Second World War, Vernon experienced residential expansion into previously rural areas, the permanent closing of the woolen mills in 1952, and the consolidation of the city and town governments into the Town of Vernon on April 1, 1965.