to Worcester, MA (and by extension the Massachusetts Turnpike), and also the Connecticut Shoreline. Additionally, but of less note, Interstate 84 passes near the western periphery of the region, providing a tenuous link with Hartford and the rest of the state. Although not major thoroughfares, Route 44 and Route 6 help to criss-cross the Quiet Corner, providing rural, but relatively straightforward East-West transit to both Providence, RI, and Hartford for local residents. Due to its relative isolation, The Quiet Corner is considered a core part of the Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor, a source of pride and identity which many residents of the area seek to preserve.Under some definitions of the Quiet Corner, the region's largest town is Windham, including the borough of Willimantic, with a population of 25,000. Under a more conservative definition of the region, however, the largest town is Killingly, with a population of nearly 18,000. As paradoxical as it may seem, it can be noted that the Willimantic and Windham area is sometimes not considered a part of the Quiet Corner proper, as its much larger population size, urbanized/industrial setting, and location at the extreme southwestern corner of Windham County (with stronger ties to Manchester, Hartford, and Norwich) seek to divide the town from the more rural settings further north and east. It can generally be agreed upon that the core of today's Quiet Corner encompasses the towns of Pomfret, Killingly, Putnam, Woodstock, Brooklyn, Thompson, Eastford, Hampton, Chaplin, Plainfield, Canterbury, Sterling, and Scotland. Towns bordering the aforementioned region may or may not be considered a part of the Quiet Corner, depending on the resident who is asked. Mill villages Early industry in the area was powered by watermills set on fast rivers and streams such as the Willimantic River and the Quinebaug River. Many were built during the early part of the Industrial Revolution in conjunction with Samuel Slater's famous mills in nearby Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Indeed, many towns of the area once bolstered large textile mills and milltowns, such as the Belding Mills in Thompson and Putnam and the Plainfield Woolen Company Mill and for nearly a century (from the early 1800s to roughly the 1930s) were a major source of economic and industrial development in the region. However, by the latter half of the 20th century, many of these mills had fallen into disrepair and by the early 2000s had been dismantled.