Football practice at Yale University, ca. 1912
– Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
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 important respites from long work hours and city living as far back as the mid-1800s. As the state’s manufacturing base expanded, large factories organized baseball and basketball leagues that engaged teams of workers in competition with one another. In addition, towns like Brooklyn and Danbury hosted annual fairs, which received visitors from all over New York and New England. Today, Connecticut is home to numerous professional and semi-professional sports franchises, a strong collegiate athletic tradition, and offers abundant locations for swimming, hiking, fishing, boating, and other forms of recreation.
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Spring Training Baseball Comes to Wallingford
During World War II, travel restrictions limited the distance baseball teams traveled to begin their training; the National League’s Boston Braves trained in Wallingford. …[more]
