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Search results for: park recreation
Merritt Parkway Creates Scenic Gateway to New England
…a level roadway. Emphasizing recreation over commuting, Merritt lobbied for a parkway that would attract “desirable” residents. The Parkway’s Problems From its outset, the parkway encountered financing setbacks, real estate…
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A Public Responsibility: Conservation and Development in the 20th Century
…development, while a superintendent managed the parks for aesthetic and recreational enjoyment. Field Secretary Albert Turner, charged with acquiring state parklands, agreed that forests and parks were different in purpose…
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The Park Movement in Hartford
…as they, too, sought to introduce space for relaxation and recreation into increasingly crowded urban settings. Bushnell Park, 1916 – City Park Collection, Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library Inspired…
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Mr. & Mrs. Rockwell’s Park
…The park was designed by the Boston landscape architect Sheffield Arnold and completed in 1920. (In addition to Rockwell Park, Arnold designed Stanley Park in New Britain and the campus…
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Pope Park – Yesterday and Today
…brothers completed the park design in 1898 and, in its original form, it contained ponds, recreational open space, tennis courts, and outdoor gymnasiums. While Pope Park served its Frog Hollow…
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Hammonasset State Park Serves the State and its Residents
Hammonasset State Park is Connecticut’s largest shoreline park. Located in Madison and consisting of over two miles of beautifully landscaped beaches, the park provides visitors with opportunities for swimming, sunbathing,…
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Lake Compounce: Bringing Amusements to the State’s Residents Since 1846
…followed was the worst in the park’s history. From 1986 to 1996, the park had four different owners and went through significant financial troubles. From 1992 to 1994, the park…
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Luna Park: A 20th-century Story of Amusement and Morality
…residents sought respite from their rapidly industrializing surroundings. They sought access to parks and shared a growing fascination with amusements. Unfortunately, this increased focus on leisure and recreation often clashed…
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Preserving Connecticut’s Natural Beauty: Connecticut’s First State Parks
…parking lot. The park finally officially opened in 1932. The “Other” Mount Tom Another early gift, in 1915, became Mount Tom State Park. The 200-acre park in Litchfield, Morris, and…
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Savin Rock Park: “Connecticut’s Coney Island”
Savin Rock Park was a seaside resort constructed in the late 19th century in the modern-day town of West Haven. Known as “Connecticut’s Coney Island,” Savin Rock Park brought together…
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Abundant Wildlife Drives the History of Rocky Neck State Park
Rocky Neck State Park is located on Long Island Sound in East Lyme. Consisting of 710 acres of camping and recreational areas, the park’s western edge is bound by a…
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Discovered Dinosaur Tracks Re-Route Highway and Lead to State Park
…Hill, therefore, explains the presence of unique fossilized remains. Preserving the Eubrontes Tracks Dinosaur Tracks, Dinosaur State Park Dinosaur State Park preserves the highest concentration of Eubrontes tracks believed to…
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Trumbull’s Parlor Rock Park: A Premier Amusement Center of the Late 19th Century
…arriving at the park, four large croquet fields and an octagonal-shaped dance hall greeted visitors, some of whom called the park an “unrivaled summer resort” with all that was needed…
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Elizabeth Park’s Rose Garden: June is Busting Out All Over
…Park Rose Garden boasts 15,000 bushes and about 800 varieties of roses and is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country. The land for Elizabeth Park was donated…
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Quassy: One of the Last of the Old-Time Trolley Parks
…park to meet these demands, as well as the public’s growing affinity for rock climbing and bungee jumping. Today, Quassy Amusement Park offers visitors swimming, picnicking, rides, a water park,…
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Muzzy Field: A Historic Ball Park Survives in a Post-Industrial City
…ballpark with the financial backing of New Departure, one of the city’s most illustrious manufacturing companies. With New Departure on board, the park officially opened on July 8, 1914, and…
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Land Purchase Becomes Bushnell Park – Today in History: January 5
On January 5, 1854, Hartford voters approved spending over $100,000 in public funds for land that would become a municipal park. It would be the first park in the country…
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Harkness Memorial Park Offers a Glimpse into Early 20th Century Wealth
Harkness Memorial Park is a beautifully landscaped recreation area along the shoreline in Waterford, Connecticut. With gorgeous views of Long Island Sound, the site offers visitors over 230 acres of…
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A Unique Island Attraction in Bridgeport
…park had suffered $60,000 worth of damage. Tilyou sold the park in 1910 and it took on the name Sea Breeze Island. The park hosted outings for local businessmen, Civil…
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And They’re Off!: Harness Racing at Charter Oak Park
…by the Edison Manufacturing Co. at Charter Oak Park in 1897. Already by the 1920s, Charter Oak Park was finding it difficult to compete with other forms of entertainment. When…
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The Park City – Who Knew?
…that Bridgeport’s nickname is the “Park City” due to its public parks. These parks include Seaside Park and Beardsley Park, both designed by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Seaside…
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The Story of Connecticut’s Largest State Forest
…State Forest. WPA and CCC Improve Park Lands Over the next 10 years, numerous fundraising efforts expanded the area of the park to 12,000 acres. Additional acquisitions came through the…
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Dynamic Tensions: Conservation and Development up to the 1920s
…set aside nature for its urban workers. In the 1870s, architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City’s Central Park, began work on Walnut Hill Park in New Britain….
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Diamonds of the Past: Hartford’s Lost Ball Parks
…Hendricxsen Avenue. This once-state-of-the-art park could hold 2,000 attendees in bleachers and grandstands around the foul lines. Horse-drawn carriages could park at the edge of the 600-by-400-foot field. The sale…
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Hidden Nearby: Two Monuments to Sportsmen at Housatonic Meadows State Park
…wood, and identifying trees. For their first task, the 182nd cleared 45 acres in the Housatonic Meadows State Park, which had been established in 1927. (As the park is on…
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A Bird’s-eye View of New Britain
…the park, and lush plantings, walkways, drinking fountains, and other amenities would be added overtime.) The conversion of this land was part of a growing public parks movement in the…
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A Special Place to Honor Military Veterans in Plainville
…officials moved the statue to Memorial Park. Standing over 22 feet tall, the granite monument of a Civil War standard-bearer rests in the southeast corner of the park. The year…
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The Connecticut Town Green
…small public park, now known as Central Park, which the city’s parks commissioner controlled. The green, located in the heart of downtown, maintained its original form as the downtown area…
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Colt Park and the Magical Summer of 1976
By Andy Piascik Colt Park Concert, July 12, 1976 – Hartford Courant file image As the summer of 1976 began, Americans immersed themselves in bicentennial-mania. A celebratory blitz reached a…
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Sports and Recreation
Connecticut has traditionally offered a diverse array of sports and recreational opportunities to visitors and residents alike. Attractions like Bristol’s Lake Compounce and West Haven’s Savin Rock Amusement Park provided…
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Park Street Festival, Hartford 1978
Despite the exodus to the suburbs, Connecticut’s cities still retain their vitality and diversity. The Park Street Festival is an annual Puerto Rican celebration held in the heart of Hartford‘s…
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Frederick Law Olmsted Born – Today in History: April 26
…Olmsted to landscape what is known today as Bushnell Park in Hartford. Olmsted, however, turned down the park design to focus on his work completing New York’s Central Park landscape….
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A Hip Road Trip
…became the rage and was adopted early by the Hartford Kiwanis Club. In 1921, the Kiwanis formally requested permission from the City of Hartford’s park commission to have Goodwin Park…
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The Danbury Fair, 1869-1981
…by the mid-20th century so many visitors traveled by car that park officials instituted a turnstile system for entering the fair, where drivers parked within enclosures then walked onto the…
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A Good Spot and a Healthy Place: A Short History of Charles Island
…park (one of the suburban “trolley parks” popular in that era) but the project never came to fruition. Then, with America’s entry into World War I in 1917, rumors emerged…
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Video – Free-for-all Race at Charter Oak Park
…ever assembled at Charter Oak Park up to that point. Hopes were high that John R. Gentry would break the 2.00-minute mark and set a new record. It was not…
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Parking Authority Created in New Haven – Today in History: June 2
On June 2, 1953, the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, known today as the Connecticut Supreme Court, ruled that creating a parking authority in the city of New Haven was…
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An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture
…Park was designed by architect Henry Bacon as a bequest to the city from William Perry, a local industrialist who also served as president of the city’s park commission. The…
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Luna Park – Who Knew?
… that Luna Park in West Hartford, a popular attraction at the turn of the 20th century, was demolished in the 1930s to make way for a Pratt & Whitney…
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Merritt Parkway 1939
…highways; however, this was a relatively innovative idea for the 1930s. It also included a well-landscaped parkway in order to make the drive more pleasing to the eye. Construction began…
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The Connecticut History Sports Challenge
…a vintage baseball game here in the summer. What park is it? Answers: (New England Whalers, Anti-gambling laws, Willie Pep, David S. Ingalls Rink, Wiffle Ball, Colt Park)…
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Frederick Law Olmsted
…in the 1850s exposed him to Continental landscape and park designs. By 1858, as Central Park Commission superintendent, he designed New York City’s most famous park. His success in coordinating…
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Waterbury’s Holy Land
Holy Land USA is a Waterbury theme park celebrating the story of the Bible. Made conspicuous by its giant cross overlooking Interstate 84, the park once attracted tens of thousands…
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Alain and May White Memorial Boulder
…Memorial Foundation, Mohawk State Forest and Mohawk Mountain State Park, Kent Falls State Park, Macedonia Brook State Park, the People’s State Forest, Campbell Falls State Park, and portions of the…
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Park Central Hotel Boiler Explosion – Today in History: February 18
This photograph was taken by R.S. DeLamater, local Hartford photographer – Connecticut Historical Society In the pre-dawn hours of February 18, 1889, the Park Central Hotel in Hartford was ripped…
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Hidden Nearby: Camp Columbia State Park in Morris
by Peter Vermilyea Camp Columbia State Forest stands as something of a ghost town along Route 109 in Morris. For nearly 100 years—from 1885 to 1983—Columbia University held engineering and…
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Kalos Society: Connecticut’s First Modern LGBTQ+ Activist Organization
…at Goodwin Park in the South end of Hartford. Locals protested the picnic—four hundred residents signed a petition to prohibit the group from gathering at the park. The petition stated…
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Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking
…beautiful. Colony of Connecticut in North-America by Moses Park, 1766 – University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) Printed Maps In 1765 Moses Park of Preston (assisted…
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Foot Ball Match: Harvard vs. Yale – Today in History: November 13
…stockings. Harvard vs. Yale, Foot Ball Match. Hamilton Park, Saturday, Nov. 13th, 1875 Played at Hamilton Park in New Haven, the match was also the first time these schools met…
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Breaking the Myth of the Unmanaged Landscape
…plots, 1759. Early Maps of Farmington, Conn., Part 2, Town Clerk’s Collection, 1935. Photograph by Brian Parker – State Archives, Connecticut State Library Except for a handful of homes and…
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Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution
…militia company: 34. Willimantic: Willimantic Armory PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE The National Park Service: The Park Service Administers 61 Miles of Trail In Connecticut, and one historic site in…
Read Sunday Funday? We Think Not – Who Knew?
…If the park’s owners opened on Sunday, they were strapped with fines. To learn more, read Luna Park: A 20th-century Story of Amusement and Morality Horses crossing the finish…
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The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford
…narrow roadway caused many a bottleneck when automobiles and foot traffic competed for space. Over time, planners reconstructed sidewalks, covered the Park River, which ran through the park, and removed…
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Oldest Rose Garden – Who Knew?
…that the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country. Established in 1904, the park was once the residence—and grounds—of industrialist Charles…
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Video – Hidden History: Bushnell Park
YouTube – CTnow.com Hidden History is a video series highlighting stories from Connecticut’s past. Content is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from…
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Illuminating Connecticut’s Past: The Bradley & Hubbard Legacy
…wick-raising mechanisms, oil level measurements, spillage prevention with metal ridges, and optimizing flame spreaders. Bradley & Hubbard’s legacy endured until 1940 when the Charles Parker Co.—a rival company from the…
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Yukitaka Osaki and Gillette Castle: One of Hadlyme’s First Japanese Immigrants
…State Park Yukitaka Osaki was born in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan in 1865, the middle son of three boys in his family. After growing up in Japan, in his…
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Andover Lake: A Lesson in Social Change
Constructed in the early 20th century, Andover Lake is a man-made recreation area. While residents of Andover and other nearby towns enjoy swimming and boating on the property’s 159 acres,…
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Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn’s School Transforms Victorian-era Education
By Paula Gibson Krimsky Frederick Gunn is recognized today not only as an abolitionist and educator but also as the “father of recreational camping” in the United States. In fact,…
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Spring Training Baseball Comes to Wallingford
Spring training baseball is a tradition in the United States unlike any other. Every February and March major league clubs send their players to warm, sunny locations in Florida and…
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Lake Pocotopaug Shapes the Growth of East Hampton
…has a history of serving the community through a variety of different functions—from natural resource for early inhabitants and later recreational uses to powering industry and supporting economic development in…
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Mohawk Mountain Made Snow for Winter Sports Lovers – Who Knew?
…Mohawk State Park in Cornwall, located in the state’s northwest corner. Roads previously built through the forest were turned into ski trails and in 1939 the Camp Tourney CCC constructed…
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The Great Danbury State Fair & Early 20th-Century Outdoor Advertising
By Diane Hassan for the CTPost.com The origins of the Danbury Fair began in 1821 when the Fairfield Agricultural Society held gatherings in Elmwood Park on Main Street. The event…
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Gifford Pinchot: Bridging Two Eras of National Conservation
…Kings Canyon National Park in California and Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, also honor him. In Simsbury, beside the Farmington River, grows the largest known tree in Connecticut…
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Wesleyan Hills Helps Redefine Suburbia
…the creation of suburbs. Residents of tract communities also began objecting to the poor aesthetics and lack of parks and open landscapes. Scott, a seven-year-old boy from California, even sent…
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I-95 Reaches New London
…markets, and plenty of parking. The Hodges Square Businessmen’s Association protested the destruction of the area. Eventually officials approved an alternate plan that “saved” Hodges Square, though cynical city officials…
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Vietnam Protests in Connecticut
…beyond its campus base. There were numerous protests, including a march and rally on April 26, 1969, in Bushnell Park in Hartford. A variety of organizations came together a short…
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A Volcanic Giant Sleeps in Hamden
…preventing any further damage to the area. European settlers set aside the area, which they initially called Blue Hills, as a permanent commons in 1721. It opened as a park…
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The Rise of the “Second Home” Community in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that after the Civil War and through the 1930s, recreational pursuits attained ever-greater importance, until they ranked among the region’s most significant characteristics. Such activities included amenities that served local…
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Peter’s Rock: North Haven History with a View
…from New Haven to Massachusetts, that offers hikers and climbers spectacular views of Connecticut and Long Island Sound. Far from being a mere recreational hotspot, however, Peter’s Rock is a…
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Derby Day on the Housatonic
…Derby resident, entrepreneur, and benefactor, realized the immense recreational potential of this placid body of water above the dam. Gates was instrumental in convincing Yale University authorities to make the…
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Bird’s-eye Views of Rockville Chart Textile Industry’s Growth
…existed in most urban areas by the 1870s. Recreational amenities, too, were highlighted in bird’s-eye views. Paralleling the development of parks in cities, recreation areas, such as Snipsic Lake in…
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Skating Through Winter
…skating around in circles. In 1918 an ice skating carnival on the pond at Colt Park featured figure skating demonstrations and skating races with dashes, distance skates, and even a…
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Banner Lodge: A Vacation Playground for an Excluded Population
…lodge added an Olympic-sized swimming pool in 1954. In 1961, it first offered “new deluxe air-conditioned motel-style rooms with individual parking” as an option to the original rustic knotty pine…
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Walt Dropo Stars Throughout New England
…a youth came full circle when Dropo made his last public appearance at Fenway Park in 2002 at a ceremony honoring Williams shortly after Williams’ death. Dropo died on December…
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Wiffle Throws a Curve in American Leisure Time
…year. Child’s Play Inspires Game Changer The spark of inspiration for the Wiffle Ball came when Mullany watched his son and a friend playing baseball in the backyard. As the…
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Bridgeport’s Catastrophic 1911 Train Wreck
…approximately a mile away from where The Ballpark at Harbor Yard now stands. And on May 17, 2013, a Metro-North passenger train derailed just across the Bridgeport/Fairfield line (several hundred…
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Swinging for the Fences: Connecticut’s Black Baseball Greats
…the Middletown Heroes played in Douglas Park against visiting white teams. In 1886, Moses Walker played for the Waterbury Brassmen, one of eight Eastern League clubs. Walker was born in…
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Battling Bat Battalino: One of Hartford’s Heroes
…the ring, he was also a hero in his local community. On April 11, 1929, he was walking across the Front Street Bridge over the Park River when he saw…
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Plainville Has Been Flying High for Over 100 Years
…at the Plainville airfield. In 1985, as a way to mark the centennial of the local fire department, Plainville hosted a hot air balloon festival in Norton Park. Now an…
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Brass City/Grass Roots: From Farmers to Developers: The Rasmussens of Town Plot
…city to be made into a park. The park was never built – Photo courtesy of Wesley Rasmussen, click to enlarge While many of Waterbury’s early Yankee agriculturalists often morphed…
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A Busy Airfield in Bethany
…airport officially closed, in part to allow for the construction of a nearby television broadcast tower. Two years later the town purchased the land for use as an industrial park…
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Seaside Tuberculosis Sanatorium: Waterford’s Contested Oceanfront Gem
…locals are aware of this early 20th-century tuberculosis hospital (turned scenic park) and its significance. After failed attempts at restoration, the buildings remain in disrepair. But at its height, the…
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A Celebrated Artist and a Meaningful Space – Today in History: October 20
…Israel Putnam, 1967, bronze sculpture, Israel Putnam State Park State, Redding – Smithsonian American Art Museums, Art Inventories Catalog The Sculptural Legacy of Anna Hyatt Huntington Some of her most…
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Landscape Architecture Helps in Healing – Who Knew?
…addition, Frederick Law Olmsted designed many residential estates, university campuses, and parks. The latter include Connecticut’s Walnut Hill Park in New Britain and Seaside and Beardsley Parks, both in Bridgeport….
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Amateur Radio Comes of Age in Connecticut
…interests to regulatory bodies, provides technical advice and assistance to amateur radio enthusiasts, and supports a number of educational programs. Radio Communications Spark the Public Imagination The age of wireless…
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Greenwich Emergency Responders: On the Move Overtime
…trucks passing through Greenwich on the Post Road by requesting the state open the Merritt Parkway to trucks carrying explosives as well as other war material. The Westchester County Parkway…
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Derby’s Osbornedale Farms, Frances Kellogg, and the Dairy Industry
…average price of $1,182—one of the bulls, named “Wis Maestro,” sold for $30,000. Animal Breeding and the Legacy of Frances Kellogg Osbornedale State Park sign – Wikimedia Commons, Jllm06 Frances…
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Last State Highway Toll Paid – Today in History: April 28
…of collecting the state’s last toll. The Boothe Memorial Park and Museum contains one of the toll booths removed from the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge on the Merritt Parkway….
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Remembering Civil War Prisoners of War
…men endured. Andersonville Military Prison Boy replica at the state capitol in Hartford, CT – Courtesy of Stacey Renee Conditions at Andersonville Prison According to the National Park Service brochure…
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A Monument Memorializes the Fallen
…mayor of Bridgeport offered to donate $25,000 (equivalent to over half a million dollars today) for the mortar to be placed in Seaside Park. The committee, however, declined the generous…
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Dinosaur Tracks Found – Today in History: August 23
…the area and in turn, the park has one of the largest on-site displays of dinosaur tracks in the world. The site was named Dinosaur State Park and designated as…
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Connecticut’s Youngest City – Who Knew?
…that ran along the west side of New Haven Harbor and over the years evolved into a general amusement park. Savin Rock Amusement Park closed in the 1960s but remains…
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Connecticut Arms the Union
…Parker, Snow & Company, Norwich Arms Company, Eagle Manufacturing Company (damaged). center, top: Colt Special Model 1861 rifle musket; Middle: angular bayonet; center bottom: Savage Revolving Fire Arms Company Model…
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Portland Puts Its Stamp on an Architectural Era
…and Sailors Memorial Arch, dedicated in Bushnell Park in Hartford on September 17, 1886. The great brownstone building era, that lasted into the early 20th century, saw entire rows of…
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Hometown Hero: Wallingford Remembers Stanley Budleski
…be killed in World War II. Dedication of Budleski Park, May 28, 1944 – Connecticut Historical Society. Gift of Mary Jane Dapkus May 28, 1944, was proclaimed “Budleski Day” in…
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Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch – Today in History: September 17
…a decorative frieze and is made from Portland brownstone. The Arch, located in Bushnell Park, marks the entrance to what was formerly the bridge that crossed Park River. 1886 dedication…
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Artist Roger Tory Peterson, a Champion for the Natural World
…Peterson came along, field guides were largely the work of ornithologists whose highly technical descriptions were only marginally helpful to the small numbers of recreational birders at the time. Suddenly,…
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A Fair to Remember in Brooklyn
Sponsored by the Windham County Agricultural Society, the Brooklyn Fair occurs annually during the last weekend in August. The society’s goal in sponsoring the fair is to promote and preserve…
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NFL Great, Andy Robustelli of Stamford
by Andy Piascik While playing professional football on two coasts, legendary defensive end Andy Robustelli won championships and earned personal accolades as a member of both the Los Angeles Rams…
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The Thimble Islands – Little Islands with a Big History
The Thimble Islands are a chain of 365 islands in Stony Creek Harbor off the southeast coast of Branford in Long Island Sound. This archipelago was first recorded as “Thimble…
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The “Father of American Football” is Born – Today in History: April 7
On April 7, 1859, Walter Chauncey Camp, the “Father of American football,” was born in New Britain, Connecticut. Camp was a gifted athlete who participated in baseball, crew, swimming, tennis,…
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“The Basque Game in Town”: The Heyday of Jai Alai in Connecticut
By Patrick Mahoney While jai alai is recognized as one of the fastest sports in existence, the game’s popularity in most of the United States dropped off considerably in recent…
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The Battle for Cockenoe Island
…they intended to leave a portion of the island available to the public for recreational use. Grassroots Activism Returns Cockenoe Island to the Town of Westport Local legislators and journalists…
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When the NFL Played in Connecticut: The Hartford Blues
by Andy Piascik In its early, freewheeling years during the 1920s, the National Football League (NFL) primarily located teams in small and medium-sized cities. Toledo, Akron, Providence, and Decatur all…
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Jimmy Piersall’s Public Struggle with Mental Illness
By Andy Piascik If Jimmy Piersall accomplished nothing else in his long, colorful life, he drew a great deal of attention to issues of mental health. Because he was a…
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The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise
By Andy Piascik Major league hockey debuted in Hartford in 1975 with the arrival of the New England Whalers. During their time in Hartford, the Whalers featured one of the…
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A Pie Tin’s Soaring Sales
William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1871. As much as locals enjoyed Frisbie’s delicious baked goods, one entertaining (but unproven) story claims people enjoyed some…
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A Real Connecticut Yankee’s Baseball Career Cut Short
Danny Hoffman’s story reminds sports fans of the fragile nature of a professional athlete’s career. An up-and-coming baseball star discovered playing on the lots of Collinsville, Connecticut, Hoffman played in…
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Boat Shoes Have Ties to Connecticut – Who Knew?
…that during a cold Connecticut winter in 1935 Paul Sperry watched his dog run across ice and snow without slipping and got inspired to create a shoe that would help…
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Danbury Baseball History Covers All the Bases
By Diane Hassan for the CTPost.com Finding an early mention of the game in an 1867 issue of The Danbury Times—the local newspaper at the time—was jaw dropping. In the…
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Waterford’s Need for Speed
The Waterford Speedbowl is a 3/8-mile oval racetrack located along Route 85 in Waterford, Connecticut. Used primarily for modified stock cars, the track brought more than just automobile racing to…
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Paradise on the Sound: The Summer Colony at Fenwick
By Anne Guernsey for Your Public Media John Warner Barber’s 1834 drawing of Saybrook Point shows the area that would later be known as Fenwick, located where the Connecticut River…
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Almost a Tragedy: The Collapse of the Hartford Civic Center
By Ben Gammell for Your Public Media Talk about close calls. It could have been the worst disaster in Connecticut history. On January 17, 1978, a Tuesday evening, 4,746 basketball…
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The Story of the Oakdale Makes Great Theater
The legendary Oakdale Theater in Wallingford reflects over 60 years of evolution in American pop culture. From its earliest days as a modest show tent, the Oakdale played host to…
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Goshen Fairs Well with Agricultural Enthusiasts
The town of Goshen plays an important role in connecting Connecticut residents to their agricultural heritage. One of the ways the town accomplishes this is by hosting agricultural fairs. Through…
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Summer Crowds Flocked to New Canaan and Stayed
Like many towns in Connecticut, New Canaan owes much of its modern character to the evolution of industry and transportation in the Northeast. Unlike more industrialized areas, however, a secluded…
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Semi-Pro Baseball in Sharon – Who Knew?
…that from the 1930s until about the early 1970s, Sharon fielded a team in the semi-pro Interstate Baseball League (IBL). Playing out of Adams Field just north of town, the…
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Re-creating Our National Pastime
By Gregg Mangan In an era before the Internet, television, or even live radio broadcasts, fans of professional baseball watched re-creations of games around the country thanks to the Baseball…
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The League of American Wheelmen and Hartford’s Albert Pope Champion the Good Roads Movement
By Richard DeLuca During the last decades of the 19th century, as the railroad established itself as the dominant form of overland transportation in Connecticut, events were in motion that…
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Andrus Field 1831–1911: Athletics and the Environment
by Sage Marshall In the center of Wesleyan University’s campus lies a rectangle of deep green grass named Andrus Field. Today, it contains a football field, a baseball diamond, and…
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Bethany: Small-town Perseverance in the Face of Growing Industrialization
…such as the Parks and Recreation Department, helped Bethany grow into a thriving residential community. By the start of the new millennium, Bethany had over 5,000 residents within its borders….
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Tradition and Transformation Define Hartford’s Jewish Community
…and Blue Hills Avenues and Keney Park became the heart of the area of second settlement with the synagogues, businesses, Jewish communal organizations, and cultural groups following their members to…
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Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company Puts Best Foot Forward
…by the Beacon Falls Centennial Committee, the people of the village also came together through such activities as the community band and a baseball team. For outdoor recreation, they turned…
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East Lyme
…railroad came through in 1851 and East Lyme’s shoreline and beaches became attractive places for summer homes and recreation—an attribute the area still retains today. Rocky Neck State Park and…
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Continuity and Change along the Eightmile River
…more recent times, the Eightmile River is prized for its role in sustaining local ecosystems and the respite that it provides to those seeking scenic vistas and recreation, such as…
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G. Fox and the Golden Age of Department Stores
…expanding the store’s available parking. A five-million-dollar expansion in 1953 continued this trend, providing the store with its first parking garage. Six years later, the store doubled in size to…
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Monument to Hero of the Greenwich Police Department – Who Knew?
… that a memorial in Byram Park honors the town’s first police dog. Yogi became the first police dog of the Greenwich Police Department in 1988. Less than one month…
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How the Wobblies Won Free Speech
…Amalgamated Trades Union wanted to use Bushnell Park for a mass meeting in 1884. The Board of Aldermen approved the rally. The Mayor vetoed the Board’s action. Special meetings were…
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Hall of Flags: Memorial to Connecticut’s Civil War Colors
…Hartford – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online Over 10,000 veterans participated in the parade. Each corps met up in East Park in Hartford where they placed tents for…
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Hard Times: Governor Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression in Connecticut
…the construction of the Merritt Parkway, the largest public works project in Connecticut to that time. He played a prominent role in the Connecticut Tercentenary (the celebration of the 300th…
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Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Captures the Gilded Age in Norwalk
…New York businessmen before becoming a public park and museum. LeGrand Lockwood Builds from His Fortune A harp in the Music Room at Lockwood-Mathews – Emily Clark Originally from Norwalk,…
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Constitution Plaza Then and Now
…Hailed as Hartford’s first major redevelopment project, developers essentially razed an entire neighborhood to build the mixed-use complex consisting of office towers, parking garages, a hotel, fountains, and walkways. In…
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Hartford’s Commemoration of World War I Servicemen and Women
…200 elm trees (complete with commemorative wooden tablets) along the driveway in Colt Park to symbolize the lives lost. Eventually officials replaced the wooden tablets with bronze plaques. Unfortunately, by…
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Monumental Bronze Company
…only one Connecticut monument. Its Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Academy Hill Park in Stratford was dedicated on October 3, 1889, to celebrate the town’s 250th anniversary. The elaborately-styled monument,…
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Overland Travel in Connecticut, from Footpaths to Interstates
…miles per hour or more. Connecticut’s First Highway and the Mid-20th-century Interstate Merritt Parkway, King Street, Greenwich, ca. 1940 – Connecticut Historical Society and Connecticut History Online The first limited-access…
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Silas Brooks, Balloonist
…at Cherry Hill Park in Collinsville on July 4, 1884, Brooks filled his balloon with hydrogen gas manufactured on the premises “in one of the greatest experiments ever witnessed.” He…
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President Grant Celebrates Independence Day in Woodstock – Today in History: July 4
…Holmes, Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. To accommodate the growing crowds, Bowen opened Roseland Park in 1876. Set on roughly 60 acres, it included a boat house,…
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Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White: “No Picture Was Unimportant to Her”
…the world. Retirement in Darien When covering the Korean War, Bourke-White developed pain in her arms and legs and upon her return to New York, learned she had contracted Parkinson’s…
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Rock-Solid Industry in 19th-Century Bolton
…of Bolton Notch State Park. Here the Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection preserves 95 acres of woods, hills, and a hiking trail established on a section of old railroad…
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Bird’s-eye Views Offer Idealized Portraits of Progress
…not yet completed), new concepts (business districts, public parks, and suburbs), and civic institutions (jails, almshouses, public schools, and hospitals). These physical markers of a community’s achievements often appeared greatly…
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Fort Griswold Attacked – Today in History: September 6
…dead and 36 wounded. Several of the wounded died within a few days and others were taken as prisoners. Today, Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park commemorates this moment in Revolutionary…
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The Ebenezer Avery House – Who Knew?
…that the Ebenezer Avery House on the grounds of Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park in Groton once served as a hospital and refuge for the wounded after the Revolutionary War’s…
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Laboring in the Shade
…residents. One student from Lynchburg, Virginia, recalled in 1952: “We were taken into Hartford on a company bus (looked like a school bus) and we parked down in what is…
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The Prospect Green as a Historical Narrative
…The historic protection came because the National Park Service recognized the important role the Prospect Green played in serving the community for over 200 years. Soldiers’ Monument, Prospect – Art…
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The Language of the Unheard: Racial Unrest in 20th-Century Hartford
…one of the tenements that lined the Park River, Hartford – Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library The clergy used their pulpits to condemn wanton attacks on black communities in…
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Indian Hill Cemetery and the Landscaping of Burial Grounds in the Mid-19th Century
…direct response to growing industrialization, which took people away from nature. Although these park-like cemeteries imitated nature, they were still the result of meticulous planning and landscape modification, which was…
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“Negroes Who Stand Up and Fight Back” – Paul Robeson in Hartford
By Steve Thornton It was called the “greatest mobilization of police in the city’s history.” But the event that brought out hundreds of Hartford-area police to Keney Park was not…
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Enforcing Law and Order in Greenwich
…addition, four main arteries pass through Greenwich—I-95, the Merritt Parkway, U.S. 1, and Metro-North Railroad. Along these roads and waters pass ordinary citizens, hazardous materials, and illegal goods. Only the…
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A Photographer with a Painter’s Eye: The Story of Nelson Augustus Moore
…1850s and 1860s. Balloon Ascensions at Bushnell Park. N.A. and R.A. Moore, Hartford, ca. 1863 – Connecticut Historical Society The Charter Oak, taken the morning of its fall – Connecticut…
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Union
…in the eastern-half of the state. One-third of the town is set aside as park and forest land and includes: Bigelow Hollow State Park, Mountain Laurel Sanctuary, Nipmuck State Forest,…
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Hartford’s Fuller Brush Company Goes Door-to-Door Across US
…in a Park Street building that he rented for $8 a month. He renamed his enterprise the Fuller Brush Company in 1913. From One-Man Shop to National Corporation In its…
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Where Mr. Twain and Mrs. Stowe Built Their Dream Houses
…edge, bordered by Farmington Avenue, Sigourney Street, and the Hog (or Park, as it was later renamed) River. The Hartford and New Haven Railroad, built in the late 1830s, cut…
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New Haven Coliseum Imploded – Today in History: January 20
…in 1972. Roche designed one of the coliseum’s most prominent features—its parking structure—to sit atop the Coliseum. Patrons accessed parking via a helical, or corkscrew-shaped, traffic ramp that measured a…
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Labor Day at the Turn of the 20th Century
…Day had become a much grander affair and an occasion for family fun. In addition to a parade, Hartford boasted festivities in Colt Park. In 1913, for example, organizers of…
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Airborne Pioneers: Connecticut Takes Flight
…Britain as part of an Aviation Day celebration held at Walnut Hill Park on July 2, 1910. That September, aviator Frank Coffyn made several short flights in a Wright company…
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The Great River: Connecticut’s Main Stream
…Connecticut River Valley, and much of New England, has entered a post-industrial phase, redefining our relationship with the river. Recreational fishing, rowing, and sailing are now enjoying a popular resurgence…
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The Slaters Go Round the World
…York, who took her on her own Grand Tour. Later owners included railroad magnate James J. Hill, who renamed her Wacouta and used her for recreational salmon fishing on the…
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Bradley Airport’s Military Origins
…base, to house the growing number of surrendering German soldiers in the waning months of the war. The enclosure included a barracks, mess hall, hospital, recreation and study hall, and…
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The Cheney Brothers’ Rise in the Silk Industry
…Village. From 1929 to 1933 the company sold their high school building, gas and electric firms, several schools and recreation buildings, the South Manchester Water Company, the South Manchester Sanitary…
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A Bird’s-eye View of Moosup
…tenement houses. In addition to providing employment for many local residents and French Canadian immigrants, Aldrich and Milner were responsible for endowing the town’s library and a recreation hall (#8,…
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Ivoryton Playhouse Opens – Today in History: June 17
…in 1911 as a recreation building for employees of the Comstock & Cheney Company, a hugely successful ivory-cutting firm founded in the 1800s, but was no longer being used for…
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The Education of Ella Grasso
…met management people and “attended trade union meetings with workers.” In her free time Ella also worked as a volunteer at the Holyoke YWCA planning “educational and recreational projects with…
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Farmington’s Hospital Rock Dates Back to 18th-Century Smallpox Inoculation
…In 2002, however, the Connecticut Historical Commission declared Hospital Rock an Historic Archeological Site. It is now part of a popular hiking and recreation area in the town of Farmington….
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The Coaster Brake – Today in History: April 9
On April 9, 1907, Harry Pond Townsend patented the driving and braking mechanism for cycles. The coaster brake, as it was known, was not a radically new invention, but it…
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“Gentleman’s Farming” Comes to Waterford
…1960. Edward died in 1940 and his children sold the property to the Town of Waterford a little over 20 years later. The estate became part of a town-owned recreation…
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The Day Four Trains Collided in East Thompson
…rail traffic around the scene. Authorities eventually razed the station facilities in East Thompson and today the rail line serves as a nature trail for hiking and other recreational activities….
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Rivers of Outrage
…followed suit, particularly in the Naugatuck Valley. A sea of change occurred during the Progressive Era. The press and public opinion, dismayed by the compromise of recreational opportunities and the…
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The Wallingford Oneida Community
…side of town in 1851 on farmland donated by Henry and Emily Allen, also became a recreational and educational retreat for its members. It had a small population during its…
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Saddles Fit For a Shah
…duty. When the World War I ended, however, production sharply dropped. Smith-Worthington retooled, scaled back production, and refocused its energy on making saddles—catering to recreational horse riders—while gingerly branching out…
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Looking Back: How the Vote Was Won
…including birth control, laws governing child labor, increased spending for hospitals, and improved recreational facilities for immigrants. She is little known today for more than having a daughter of the…
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Video – Dotha Bushnell Hillyer Tribute Film
…A civic leader herself, Dotha championed the fight for tenement reform, and educational and recreational opportunities for immigrants brought to the Hartford area for war work. Today the Bushnell is…
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Thanksgiving and Christmas at Long Lane, 1874
…pie & cakes was provided, and enjoyed by the girls as only children can enjoy such food. Dinner at – 2 PM. – recreations, games & etc., until 5 PM…
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The Long, Ambiguous History of Connecticut’s Blue Laws
…in an effort to regulate the populations’ Sunday activities. As a result, many Americans found themselves fined or arrested for working, consuming alcohol, traveling, or partaking in recreational activities on…
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A New Source of Farm Labor Crops Up in Wartime
…of some local high school boys) picked 50,000 quarts of strawberries in Bolton. The ladies then utilized a deserted ice cream parlor for a recreation and dining hall while they…
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William Gillette
…many cats, and built a three-mile-long narrow-gauge railroad for riding around his property. The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection now operates the property as Gillette Castle State Park….
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Ellis Ruley: Art that Celebrated Life
…for his quirky paintings of cowboys on rearing horses and scenes of everyday Norwich life. His nostalgic town images included the tramway, rental canoes at Monhegan Park, and the nearby…
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A Metal Giant in Wilton
…Detail of iron work produced by Kenneth Lynch for the center pier of the Lake Avenue Bridge, spanning the Merritt Parkway, Greenwich – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division…
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Emergence of Modern America 1890-1930
…to women, the birth of Hollywood and acting legends such as William Gillette, and the heyday of amusements such as those found at Savin Rock, Lake Compounce, and Luna Park….
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Financing a Free Puerto Rico: The Great Wells Fargo Heist of 1983
…Hartford, Connecticut. He then loaded over $7 million into a rented car parked in the loading dock and drove away. At the time, it was the largest cash robbery in…
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The Deplorable History of Hartford’s Seyms Street Jail
…for the first time in over a century. Authorities tore down the abandoned jail shortly after the new jail opened and, in 1979, the former prison property became Lozada Park….
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Mariann Wolcott and Ralph Earl – Opposites Come Together and Make History
…of Liberty jumped the tall protective fence of nearby Bowling Green Park. They then tied ropes around the equestrian statue of King George III and pulled it to the ground….
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The Connecticut River
…documentary The Long Tidal River, in which she called the Connecticut River “the world’s most beautifully landscaped cesspool.” This film helped spark a burgeoning environmental movement in New England that…
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Stevan Dohanos Captures Connecticut Life
…work, Dohanos depicted a farmer parking his truck in front of the post office, leaving a cow (blanketed against the cold) standing in the back. In seeming haste, the farmer…
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Speaking under the Open Sky: Frederick Douglass in Connecticut
…portrait taken by a local photographer and his autobiography published in 1882 by Hartford’s Park Publishing Company. (The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass became so popular it went through…
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Thomas Hooker: Connecticut’s Founding Father
…along the river. There was a Dutch fort at the mouth of the Little River (later the Park River) immediately to the south of Hartford, and another small group of…
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Gun Wheel of the First Light Battery, Connecticut Volunteers
…Broadway Park, New Haven, June 16, 1905 – Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Around 1900, the First Light Battery Veterans Association began advocating for the construction of a…
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Evelyn Beatrice Longman Commemorates the Working Class
…established in her field. Besides a variety of local installations (many of which were full of military symbolism, including Spirit of Victory, a Spanish-American War memorial in Bushnell Park), Longman’s…
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The Gettysburg Address and Heroic Fathers Bronze Tablets at the State Capitol
…their bronze tablet, honoring “Our Heroic Fathers.” Reverend John Henry Bell, Pastor of the South Park Methodist Church in Hartford, opened with a prayer and briefly recounted the memorable surrender…
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Great Depression and World War II 1929-1945
…as the opening of the Merritt Parkway (the largest public works project in Connecticut until that time). Industries such those operated by Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney kept the recovery…
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Connecticut’s Capitol Building – Inside and Out
…influential in Connecticut. He was a part of the committee that created Bushnell Park, surrounding the land where Connecticut’s state capitol stands today. He was also among the founders of…
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The Black Panther Party in Connecticut: Community Survival Programs
…was literally a matter of life or death. Hartford officials promised the public housing tenants of Charter Oak Terrace in 1968 to fix the overflowing Park River. The river caused…
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Rock and Roll vs. Racism
…in 1955 that authorities arrested Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking the famous bus boycott. On August 1, 1955, the Georgia Board of Education fired all teachers who held membership…
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America’s First Ordained Woman Minister: Olympia Brown and Bridgeport’s Universalist Church
…abolitionist and suffrage movements, to lecture at the church. The First American Woman Ordained a Minister Comes to the Park City Mrs. Olympia Brown, ca. 1919- Library of Congress, Prints…
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Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Connecticut Lessons from a Tragedy
…according to ConnectiCOSH spokesman Steven Schrag. The group holds CEOs personally responsible for providing adequate safety and health programs in the workplace. In Hartford’s Bushnell Park, near the Civil War…
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J. P. Morgan’s Connecticut Roots
…played along the Park River with his cousins, James and Francis Goodwin (the sons of his father’s sister, Lucy) with whom he became lifelong friends. Both were successful businessmen and…
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Typing History
…on New Park Avenue in Hartford, and built its new factory there. By the mid-20th century, Royal, with over six thousand employees, was the largest company dedicated exclusively to the…
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Nathan Hale: The Man and the Legend
…to the artillery park at what is now Third Avenue and 66th Street and, after mounting a ladder, was hanged from a tree. The British buried his body nearby. Contemporary…
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Breaking the Mold: Tradition and Innovation in the Work of Elbert Weinberg
…location for it. Sites considered included the sidewalk in front of the Hartford Public Library, the Old State House, and various Hartford Parks. It was only after Weinberg’s death in…
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Hartford and New Haven: A Tale of Two Capitals
…its completion in 1878, the marble and granite Gothic structure that overlooks Bushnell Park exceeded its initial budget by over a million dollars. The following year, the General Assembly met…
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Holmes at Home: The Life of William Gillette
…estate, now called Gillette Castle, is owned and maintained by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). As a state park, it hosts approximately 100,000 visitors a year. The…
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John Brown: A Portrait of Violent Abolitionism
…a dispenser of God’s justice. The religious fervor he brought to his crusade inspired a fanatical following. He stirred clergymen like Theodore Parker to declare with extreme conviction that slaves…
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The Ku Klux Klan in Connecticut
…Klan demonstrators in the parking lot of West Farms Mall shopping center in Farmington, CT, Sunday, May 23, 1983. The demonstrators were protesting a proposed stop by Klan members to…
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Hebron
…African Americans. Ruins of Hebron’s industrial past can be found in Gay City State Park, which takes its name from the abandoned mill town that once stood within its boundaries….
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Serving Up Justice: Hartford’s Black Workers Organize
…the first all-black union recognized by the conservative American Federation of Labor (AFL). E. D. Nixon and his secretary, Rosa Parks, who both worked for the BSCP in Montgomery, Alabama,…
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The Rogerenes Leave Their Mark on Connecticut Society
…the Rogerene community dissolved. Today, the Mystic hill that once hosted their anti-war meetings is a park called the Peace Sanctuary. It is open to the public and cared for…
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Middletown’s Beman Triangle: A Testament to Black Freedom and Resilience
…east by Vine Street (formerly Park Street), and on the west by Knowles Avenue (formerly Swamp Street), this three-and-a-half acre, triangular piece of land came to be known as the…
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The Stamford Foundry Company Made Notable Stoves
…Co. and the Arnold & Co. of Norwalk. In 1953, the City of Stamford bought The Stamford Foundry Company for $200,000 and turned the complex into a parking lot. The…
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Julian Alden Weir: The “Heart” of American Impressionism
…certainly at the heart of it.” Today, Weir’s beloved farm in Branchville is the 60-acre Weir Farm National Historic Site—the only park unit devoted to American painting and where the…
Read Brass City/Grass Roots: Bucks Hill: Waterbury’s Rural Holdout
…You go in and up the parking lot to Wilby High School, all that was hay fields. —Bill Gagliardi By one count, there were some 88 dairies in Waterbury…
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Richard Reihl: The Hate Crime That Became a Turning Point for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights
…Chez Est, a gay bar in Hartford, when he met Sean Burke, 17, and Marcos Perez, 16, in the parking lot. They followed Reihl home to his condominium in Wethersfield….
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Bridgeport’s WPKN: Going Strong After Half a Century
…hosted a popular used vinyl record sales extravaganza. During the long run of the Gathering of the Vibes music festival at Bridgeport’s Seaside Park, WPKN broadcast many of the performances…
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Beechmont Dairy: Bridgeport’s Ice Cream to Die For
…store about a mile away on Park Avenue. By the early 1970s, the increased competition caused business to slacken to a point where the Niedermeier family decided to close up…
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Connecticut Domestic Oil Lamp Makers
…the Bradley and Hubbard Company (1854-1940) of Meriden; the Bridgeport Brass Company (1865-1961); the Plume and Atwood Manufacturing Company (1871-1955) of Waterbury; the Charles Parker Company (1877-1957) of Meriden, which…
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Hartford’s Anna Sokolow, Modern Dance Pioneer
…the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Socialist Party. Anna’s father came down with Parkinson’s disease while still a young man and the family struggled financially throughout Anna’s youth….
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Hope on the Wall: Connecticut’s New Deal Post Office Murals
…be of high quality and depicted subject matter that was quaint and comforting. The government wanted these murals to spark an interest in art and offer people an uplifting distraction…
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Where It All Happened: Connecticut’s Old State House
…overturned this decision and Crandall’s story went on to spark national debate. Lawyers cited her case for decades when arguing for equal rights to education, as they did in Brown…
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Sam Colt’s Funeral: The Day Hartford Stopped
…deer park, the artificial lake, the statuary, the orchard, the cornfields, and meadows as well as the fabulous greenhouses. At the stable, Mike Tracy, the Irish coachman, stood by Shamrock,…
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A Diversified Mind: Hiram Percy Maxim
…built one of the first radiotelegraph stations, distinguished by its powerful spark-gap transmitter and its enormous antennas, in Hartford. Hiram Percy Maxim – Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library The…
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Bridgeport Women Answer the Call – Today in History: April 15
…$10,000 toward the city’s Civil War monument. Dedicated in 1876, Bridgeport’s Soldiers Monument stands in Seaside Park, a testimony to the service of the city’s men and the devotion of…
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William Eaton, a Peace Democrat and Civil War Opponent
…on his funeral service, quoting Rev. E. P. Parker as having said, “His record was not stained by personal vices or personal enmities. He was incapable of inconsistency of purpose….The…
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Saving Sessions Woods
By Nancy Finlay John Humphrey Sessions was born in Burlington, Connecticut, in 1828. His father, Calvin Sessions, moved to Burlington from Vermont in the early 19th century and built the…
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Hardcore Connecticut: Documenting the State’s Punk Rock Scene
…even here in the land of steady habits, hardcore punk rockers occupied venue spaces, spectators became performers, pools became skate parks, and Xerox machines became the printing press in this…
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“Take Five” with Dave Brubeck
…the time, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and more. The Brubecks Move to Connecticut In 1960, Brubeck relocated his family—his wife, Iola, and their five children—to…
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The Bull Moose Party in Connecticut
…arrived by train at Hartford’s Union Station to deliver an address at the Connecticut State Fair in Charter Oak Park. He was greeted by huge crowds in Hartford as well…
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An Orderly & Decent Government: Searching for the Common Good, 1888-1905
…overhanging Hartford’s Park River, c. 1900 Stimulated by immigration and industrialization, Connecticut cities expanded rapidly. Bridgeport grew from a population of 30,000 in 1880 to a thriving metropolis of over…
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…Limited-access highways, such as the Connecticut Turnpike and the Wilbur Cross Parkway, helped propel the suburbanization that was transforming the state. The legislature provided significant school construction funding to keep…
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The Return of Two-Party Government Connecticut’s initial response to the Depression was limited to a $6 million public works program and a modest jobs project in the state’s parks. In…
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Groton
…1954 launch of the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Key attractions include Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park (a Revolutionary War site) and the Submarine Force Library & Museum….
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Waterford
…nuclear power generating station. Waterford’s other landmarks include the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater and Harkness Memorial State Park, which includes seaside gardens and a 1906 Roman Renaissance Classical Revival-style mansion….
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Andover to Woodstock: How Connecticut Ended Up with 169 Towns
…the Connecticut River. Colony of Connecticut in North-America by Moses Park, 1766 – University of Connecticut Libraries’, Map and Geographic Information Center (Magic) Not surprisingly, as soon as a community…
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P.T. Barnum
…legislature and, as Bridgeport’s mayor, spearheaded numerous city improvement initiatives, including Seaside Park. He also helped found the Bridgeport Hospital in 1878. Barnum, as a showman, was known for promoting…
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Death and Mourning in the Civil War Era
…these cemeteries as park-like settings that encouraged visitors to wander paths, contemplate the solemnity of death, and feel God’s presence in nature. Hartford’s Cedar Hill Cemetery follows this thinking. Even…
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Talcott Mountain: A View of Early New England
…federal agencies, however, the property, including portions of the former Monte Video estate, came under public ownership and is today Talcott Mountain State Park, which extends from Simsbury into Avon….
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Louis’ Lunch and the Birth of the Hamburger
…on paper plates (invented in 1904) alongside bottles of Foxon Park soda, an East Haven, Connecticut, brand with more than 80 years of local production. A Lassen hamburger served at…
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Windsor Tobacco: Made in the Shade
…of a tobacco museum at Northwest Park. Today, through its archives, collections, and exhibits, the Luddy/Taylor Tobacco Museum educates visitors on one of the most important aspects of Connecticut’s agricultural…
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Albert Augustus Pope, Transportation Pioneer
…to cover an array of symptoms usually associated with Parkinson’s disease or the late stages of syphilis. A Transportation Legacy Albert Pope’s pioneering work in the transportation industry is still…
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A Day of Celebration – Today in History: September 17
…Building, each regiment handed their battle torn flags over to Governor Charles B. Andrews who gratefully accepted them. After the ceremony, the 10,000 veterans made their way to Bushnell Park…
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Capital Community College Students Explore Hartford’s Immigrant History…In Their Own Words
…Hartford; however, they employed highly trained experts and craftsmen, probably other German immigrants. From 285 Broad St., the Heubleins moved to 330 Park Ave, they were all over Hartford, and…
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The Astronomical Event of the Century
…Thread City, 5,000 of them on Hosmer Mountain. Fox Hill in Rockville was another favored viewpoint, as were Hubbard Park in Meriden and East Rock and West Rock in New…
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Norfolk
…to the small town during the summer. Today, Norfolk retains its rural character and is home to three state parks, miles of hiking trails, and the Yale Summer School of…
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Lion Gardiner Helps to Fortify Early Old Saybrook
…various state archives, was finally rediscovered in 1809 and published in 1833. Gardiner died in 1663 in what is now East Hampton, New York. Fort Saybrook Monument Park in Old…
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…of a large park system. While Ribicoff’s plan ultimately failed, it did raise new awareness about the importance of preserving the Connecticut River’s resources and led to the creation of…
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Salisbury Iron Forged Early Industry
…furnace stack and it stands as the centerpiece of The Iron Heritage Trail in the National Park Service-designated Upper Housatonic National Heritage Area, Inc. Ed Kirby, an educator, author, lecturer,…
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World War I Flying Ace Raoul Lufbery
…that his adopted hometown of Wallingford felt keenly. There, a local park, a street and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post all are named in Lufbery’s honor. Globetrotting Lufbery Lands…
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Bridge Ornaments Help Tell the Legend of the Windham Frog Fight
…Crossing, the bridge over the Willimantic River opened in 2000 and replaced an 1857 arched stone bridge that is now a garden walkway within the Windham Mills State Heritage Park….
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Vietnam War
…the war, Connecticut increased its efforts to recognize the sacrifices of its men and women in Vietnam. Memorials include a monument in Coventry, as well as numerous parks and structures…
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Hartford’s Nook Farm
…the winding Park River. The men built their homes and parceled out land to family members and friends. What evolved in the years after the Civil War was Nook Farm,…
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Bradley International Airport Transforms Windsor Locks into Regional Gateway
…1965, the airport added two passenger wings to the original terminal and lengthened runways to accommodate larger jet airplanes. In 1983, terminal facilities, parking and hotel accommodations were increased, and…
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Colt Armory Burns – Today in History: February 4
…original one that burned. Today, the factory complex is known as Coltsville and contains many of the original 19th-century structures. The entire area was recently designated a National Historical Park….
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Architecture
…the 1600s, from parks created during the City Beautiful movement to modernist and post-modern skyscrapers that punctuate our skyline, the state’s architecture tells the story of a diverse and emergent…
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Notorious New-Gate Prison
…of the site in 1968. In 1973 the National Park Service designated New-Gate Prison a National Historic Landmark. Now called Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mines, the property is administered…
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Cleopatra’s Needle and Groton’s Captain Davis – Who Knew?
…that Cleopatra’s Needle, the Egyptian obelisk erected in Central Park across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, arrived safely from Egypt due to the ingenuity of Noank’s Henry E. Davis….
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General Joseph R. Hawley Helps Commemorate Connecticut’s Civil War Soldiers
…save the Union are in their graves.” 1886 dedication ceremony of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Bushnell Park, Hartford – Connecticut Historical Society Hawley was not afraid to mention…
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Pomfret
…Putnam killed Connecticut’s last known wolf. Now part of Mashamoquet Brook State Park, Wolf Den is on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, Pomfret is a residential community with…
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New Fairfield
…the area, along with land from neighboring towns, to create Candlewood Lake. The lake, Squantz Pond State Park, and tracts of unspoiled terrain have made New Fairfield an attractive residential…
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Video – Hidden History: Keney Tower
YouTube – CTnow.com Hidden History is a video series highlighting stories from Connecticut’s past. Content is produced by and used with the permission of CTnow.com. Presentation of external content from…
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Griswold
…Griswold, incorporated in 1815. In 1895, Jewett City incorporated as a borough of the town. Today, Griswold is home to Hopeville Pond State Park, former site of a woolen mill….
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East Haddam
…retail shops, taverns, and mills proliferated in the area. Today, the town is home to the Goodspeed Opera House, a destination for theater-goers, and Gillette Castle, a Connecticut state park….
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Elizabeth Jarvis Colt Born – Today in History: October 5
…Hartford was also reflected in her bequest of the grounds and gardens of her beloved estate, Armsmear, to the city of Hartford, to form the 140-acre Colt Park. Armsmear itself…
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The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite
…and the other in Branchville. The ruins of the New Milford operation can be visited at the recently opened Lover’s Leap State Park. Beryl’s Double Life as Gemstone and Nuclear…
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Bristol
…city in 1911. Today, Bristol is mostly residential and best known as the home of ESPN, the American Clock & Watch Museum, and Lake Compounce, America’s oldest operating theme park….
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West Haven
…the state’s oldest settlements. It is home to the Savin Rock Amusement Park, a late nineteenth-century seaside resort famous for drawing visitors from all over New York and New England….
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Ridgefield
…in a corner post of Keeler’s Tavern. Today, Ridgefield is home to Weir Farm National Historic Site, which straddles the Ridgefield-Wilton border. It is the only National Park in Connecticut….
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Madison
…later turnpikes made Madison popular as a resort community for a seasonal population—a characteristic that it retains to this day. Both Hammonasset State Park and Cockaponset State Forest lie within…
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Killingworth
Killingworth, in Middlesex County, is located in south-central Connecticut and includes Chatfield Hollow State Park. Europeans established a plantation here in 1663, naming it Homonoscitt after the Hammonasset people who…
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Branford
…coastline made it a popular tourist destination. Today, Branford is a suburban community with several town-maintained parks and beaches and 20 miles of coastline. It has numerous historic districts, and…
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Weir Farm the Result of a Trade – Who Knew?
…the 60-acre Weir Farm National Historic Site includes the Weir House, the studios of Weir and Young, the barns, gardens, and Weir Pond. It is presently Connecticut’s only National Park….
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The Charter Oak Fell – Today in History: August 21
…on the state quarter. Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the Charter Oak exist all over the state of Connecticut. These relatives can be seen in places like Bushnell Park in…
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Home Missionary Society’s First Missionary – Today in History: August 7
…Parks on Christmas Eve in Lebanon. Shortly after, the two set out to Arbrecroche, Michigan, 40 miles from the Mackinac people and a center of the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Ojibways….
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Poet Wallace Stevens Dies – Today in History: August 2
…his home near Elizabeth Park to his offices at the insurance company. Born in 1879, Stevens had begun writing poetry while an undergraduate at Harvard, but his first book of…
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The Stonington Battle Flag
…is now on display at the National Museum of American History), originally measured an exceptionally large 30 feet by 42 feet. According to the National Park Service Web site for…
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Pequot War
…war or sold into slavery. Today, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in southeastern Connecticut is proof of a people’s endurance and a collaborative project funded by the National Park Service…
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New State Capitol 1878
…donated money towards the building. The fifth state house in Connecticut’s history was built on land in Bushnell Park, where Trinity College, then known as Washington College, had previously been…
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The Great Hurricane of 1938 – Today in History: September 21
…a parked truck, September 1938 – Greenwich Historical Society Floods caused by the record rainfall of more than 8 inches put some town residents in peril. Police, fire, Red Cross…
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Fort Griswold and the Battle of Groton Heights 1781
…40 minutes. The fort was later used in defense preparations for at least four other wars, and the original garrison is now a state park. << Previous – Next >>…
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A Turn-of-the-Century New Year’s Eve
…balcony of the Hotel Russwin ready to salute the dawn of 1901. On the streets below, bonfires lit up the night at Franklin Square, Walnut Hill Park, and at the…
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The Last Wolf in Connecticut
…to bring up her body. The Wolf Den was a popular tourist attraction during the 19th century and today is part of Mashamoquet Brook State Park in Pomfret, Connecticut. The…
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Creative License, or Fundamental Fact?
…by nearly a century and a half and was composed and adopted right here, near the banks of the swift-flowing Hog River (better-known today as the Park River). The Fundamental…
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James G. Batterson, Stone Contractor
…trustee of the Wadsworth Atheneum for 40 years. In addition, he served as a member of the committee that created Hartford’s Bushnell Park. Historian William Hosley noted that Batterson “was…
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The Kennedys in Connecticut – Today in History: November 6
…being the nation’s youngest president and its first Roman Catholic president. Kennedy’s popularity in Connecticut is reflected in the many schools, parks, and other buildings that still bear his name…
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Wilbur Cross
…(1931–1939), Cross helped see Connecticut through the Great Depression, pushed for the repeal of Prohibition, and even presided over the opening ceremonies for the newly constructed Merritt Parkway in 1938….
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Blood on the Hill: The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781
…stirred by reports of the “massacre” and its particulars remain a topic of debate to this day. Fort Griswold was rebuilt and today is part of Connecticut’s state park system….
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The Story Trail of Voices
…gathering them for winter use and at that time I would have been about five years of age … I think that it kindled a spark. Later on, I became…
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Fire Ravages Cos Cob School – Today in History: July 29
…On August 2, they approved the reopening of Parkway School and the transferring of funds for renovations. The principal scheduled a meeting for students and parents to assure them that…
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Deadly Fire at Gulliver’s – Today in History: June 30
…stairway.” Two Greenwich police, investigating a burglary at a store across the parking lot, saw smoke and called in the alarm. Three hundred firefighters from New York and Connecticut, including…
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Three Young Engineers: Charting New Haven
…of the American West. A mountain in Yellowstone National Park is named after him. This chart is one of 800 maps and charts that are being digitized and made available…
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The Art of Burying the Dead: Exploring Connecticut’s Historic Cemeteries
…Jacob Weidenmann, who also designed Bushnell Park. With its sprawling hills and sweeping vistas, Cedar Hill provides a tranquil resting place for the remains of over 32,000 people. Plan of…
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The Comstock Bridge Brings East Hampton Residents Together
…(a configuration where the traffic-bearing span is flanked by parallel structures that are not cross-braced at the top). Today, this testament to innovative design is part of a public park,…
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The Shoe Box Murder Mystery
By Gregg Mangan On the morning of August 8, 1886, on a walk through the Parker farm district of Wallingford, Edward Terrill and his dog uncovered what appeared to be…
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From Frontier Town to Capital City: Collection Traces Hartford’s Transformation
…The collection also includes commission and council reports, court records and legal disputes, cemetery maps, voting records, and voluminous paperwork that accompanied the construction of buildings, parks, and homes within…
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A World in Motion: Artist and Sculptor Alexander Calder
…was a well-known, successful artist whose work was included in major museum collections and arrayed in public parks and plazas all over the world. Teresa Erskine Roth wrote about art…
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Calder in Connecticut: World-Famous Artist Called Roxbury Home
…orange-coated steel plates constructed in Waterbury. It is the centerpiece of the Alfred E. Burr Memorial Mall, a small park adjacent to Hartford City Hall and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum…
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Connecticut’s “The Legend of the Charter Oak”
By Erin Strogoff for Your Public Media Charter Oak Bridge. Charter Oak State College. Charter Oak Park. Why are so many places and things in Connecticut named “Charter Oak”? The…
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The Frost House Once Offered Travelers a Warm Welcome
…in 1865, but the home stayed in his family into the 1920s. It remained a private residence afterward, and in 1987, came under the protection of the National Park Service….
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Hartford’s Sex Trade: Prostitutes and Politics
…much of her adult life being ostracized, forced at times to find shelter in local parks or whorehouses. Those experiences informed her later thinking on prostitution. The Traffic in Women,…
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Metal Homes for the Atomic Age
…undergoing renovation and being considered by the National Park Service for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Porcelain enamel had been used beginning in the late 1920s for…
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Marietta Canty House
…Republican politics. © National Register of Historic Places and National Park Service. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared on the National Register of Historic Places Women’s History Month page….
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Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses
…Gregory Streets.” During their lifetimes the Freeman sisters overcame significant obstacles as women and as African Americans in 19th-century society. © National Register of Historic Places and National Park Service….
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A Revolution in Horse Power: The Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railroad Goes Electric
…and from work in the city, as well as for urban pleasure seekers, who used the trolley lines to reach suburban amusement parks and nature preserves. Hartford’s first electric trolley,…
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Julian Alden Weir
…held by top museums around the world, and Weir Farm, which sits on land in Ridgefield and Wilton, is the only National Park Service historic site dedicated to American painting….
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John Rogers was a 19th-Century Sculptor for the Common Man
…the studio in New Canaan where Rogers worked for much of his later life is a museum and is recognized by the National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark….
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Hartford Circus Fire: “The Tent’s on Fire!” – Who Knew?
…park behind Wish School; it features the names of the 168 fatalities. Contributed by Emma Demar, a Connecticut Explored intern and Trinity College student in 2011, and Elizabeth Normen, the…
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Horace Bushnell
…civic leader. Bushnell’s lasting legacy to the city of Hartford is Bushnell Park, built in the 1860s as a respite from bustling city life. Bushnell died in Hartford in 1876…
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Ebenezer Bassett’s Historic Journey
…continue his education, he attended classes at Yale in mathematics and classics. In 1855 he married Eliza Park in New Haven. While in New Haven he also met Frederick Douglass…
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L.D. Brown and Son Silk Mill: A Staple in Middletown’s South Farms District
…parking lot. Plans to demolish more have yet to be executed, and Estate Treasures, a thrift shop and estate clearing service, continues its business in the main building, which dates…
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