Sponsored by the Windham County Agricultural Society, the Brooklyn Fair is held annually in August to promote and preserve the area’s agricultural heritage.
ReadA rowing event on Lake Housatonic, “Derby Day,” was so popular among Yale students that it drew upwards of thirty to fifty thousand spectators.
ReadFrom the 1930s to the 1970s, Banner Lodge was one of the most popular vacation destinations in Connecticut and actively welcomed a Jewish clientele.
ReadPachaug State Forest is the largest state forest in Connecticut and covers approximately 24,000 acres and crossing the borders of numerous towns.
ReadCan you pass the Connecticut History Sports Challenge?
ReadIn Trumbull, the arrival of the Housatonic Railroad brought a lesser known but more entertaining development—one of the country’s first amusement parks.
ReadFar from being a mere recreational hotspot, however, Peter’s Rock is a formation with an extensive history of service to the surrounding area.
ReadBristol’s Lake Compounce is the oldest continually operating amusement park in the US and has been open every summer since 1846.
ReadSherwood Island, Mount Tom, Macedonia Brook, and Kent Falls are among the earliest lands set aside as the parks movement took hold in the state.
ReadDuring the 1935 winter, Paul Sperry watched his dog run across ice and snow without slipping and got inspired to create a shoe that would help human traction.
ReadThe town of Plainville claims a special relationship with aviation culture that dates back to the earliest days of flight in the state.
ReadThe Hartford City Parks Collection comprises a rich archive, documenting Hartford’s pioneering effort to establish and maintain a viable system of municipal parks and connecting parkways between them.
ReadAfter over one hundred years, Bristol’s Muzzy Field continues to welcome ball players and fans of sports history.
ReadThe story of Luna Park in West Hartford provides insight into the battles between entertainment and ethics in Connecticut during the Progressive Era.
ReadThe building of Andrus Field on the campus of Wesleyan University demonstrates changes made to the built environment to meet the changing needs of a local community.
ReadIn the 1930s, skiing became a popular pastime at Mohawk State Park in Cornwall and became famous for documenting the first artificial snow.
ReadBy the 1850s, better-designed skates and interest in healthful outdoor activities made ice skating an increasingly popular leisure activity.
ReadAndy Robustelli played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants, winning several championships and awards during his career.
ReadOn November 13, 1875, Yale and Harvard wore the first team uniforms in an American intercollegiate football game.
ReadIn 1909, the Danbury Agricultural Society called attention to its upcoming fair in a most creative manner.
ReadIn 1926, the Hartford Blues became the first and only NFL team to call Connecticut home. After a disappointing season, the NFL voted them out of the league.
ReadFew major league baseball players had rookie seasons as good as Walt Dropo’s while playing for the Boston Red Sox in 1950.
ReadTins used to hold pies at William Frisbie’s pie company in Bridgeport in the late 1800s reportedly provided the inspiration for Wham-O’s most popular toy, the Frisbee.
ReadEast Hampton is home to one of Connecticut’s largest inland bodies of water, Lake Pocotopaug.
ReadWhen Bridgeport annexed the borough of West Stratford in 1889, the acquisition came with a a small 37-acre parcel of land on a barrier island at the mouth of Bridgeport Harbor.
ReadIn 1850, this educator, prominent abolitionist, and outdoorsman founded The Gunnery, a school in Washington, Connecticut.
ReadIn the early morning hours of July 11, 1911, a train derailed in Bridgeport, killing fourteen people. Among the first responders were members of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
ReadConsisting of 710 acres of camping and recreational areas, Rocky Neck State Park is located on Long Island Sound in East Lyme.
ReadProfessional baseball great Jimmy Piersall battled with mental illness all of his life.
ReadLike many towns in Connecticut, New Canaan owes much of its modern character to the evolution of industry and transportation in the Northeast.
ReadWhen David N. Mullany created the concept for a lightweight ball, he didn’t know his invention would change the way children across the US played backyard baseball.
ReadBoasting 15,000 bushes and about 800 varieties of roses, it is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country.
ReadThe Baseball Playograph Company in Stamford brought live baseball to tens of thousands of Americans through the production of its “playograph” product.
ReadThe history of this Old Saybrook community includes Stick-style architecture, Katherine Hepburn, and an iconic license plate image.
ReadFrom the hometown teams to the 1903 World Series, Danbury has surprising connections to America’s favorite pastime.
ReadMajor league hockey debuted in Hartford in 1975 and the Hartford Whalers remained a staple of the Connecticut landscape for twenty-three years.
ReadA tenacious and long-lasting boxer, Battalino went on to win the world professional featherweight championship.
ReadA native of New Britain, Walter Camp helped revolutionize the game of American football while a student and coach at Yale and for several years afterward.
ReadIn Connecticut, African Americans played organized baseball as early as 1868, some of the game’s biggest stars played for teams throughout the state.
ReadWhile initially uninhabited because of their rocky soil, the Thimble Islands in Branford evolved into both a popular tourist destination and an exclusive residential community.
ReadIn 1914, bell and ball bearing manufacturer Albert Rockwell donated 80 acres of land to the city of Bristol for the creation of a public park.
ReadFor almost a century the Danbury Fair thrilled people from near and far. First showcased for its agricultural achievements, it later hosted a number of popular attractions including rides, races, and entertainment.
ReadIn the mid-1980s, members of the Connecticut State Grange awarded Goshen the Connecticut Agricultural Fair.
ReadThe day was cool and 10,000 spectators crowded the stands at Charter Oak Park to see a come-from-behind victory as Alcryon left the other trotters in the dust.
ReadSavin Rock Park was a seaside resort constructed in the late 19th century in the modern-day town of West Haven.
ReadOnce the proposed site of Albert Pope’s industrial village, Pope Park has served the recreation needs of the Hartford community for over one hundred years.
ReadLocated in Madison, Hammonasset State Park provides visitors with opportunities for swimming, sunbathing, or strolling along the park’s meandering boardwalk.
ReadOrganized jai alai came to Connecticut in the 1970s, but charges of corruption soon brought the sport to an end in the Nutmeg State.
ReadThe legendary Oakdale Theater in Wallingford reflects over 60 years of evolution in American pop culture.
ReadWith gorgeous views of Long Island Sound, Harkness Memorial Park is a beautifully landscaped recreation area along the shoreline in Waterford, Connecticut.
ReadAn up-and-coming baseball star discovered playing on the lots of Collinsville, Danny Hoffman played in the majors before joining the New York Yankees.
ReadDuring World War II, travel restrictions limited the distance baseball teams traveled to begin their training; the National League’s Boston Braves trained in Wallingford.
ReadWhile residents of Andover and other nearby towns enjoy the property’s 159 acres, Andover Lake played in challenging racial boundaries during the Civil Rights Era.
ReadBefore becoming a part of Silver Sands State Park, Milford’s Charles Island served as everything from a luxury resort to the home of a fertilizer factory.
ReadIn the early morning of January 18, 1978, the roof of the sports coliseum collapsed onto 10,000 empty stadium seats.
ReadThe Waterford Speedbowl is a 3/8-mile oval racetrack located along Route 85 in Waterford, Connecticut.
ReadA crowd of some 25,000 to 30,000 people turned out to see John R. Gentry compete for a $6,000 purse.
ReadErected in 1874, Hartford’s earliest baseball stadium was the Base Ball Grounds in Colt Park, on the corner of Wyllys Street and Hendricxsen Avenue.
ReadFrom the 1930s until about the early 1970s, Sharon fielded a team in the semi-pro Interstate Baseball League (IBL).
ReadThe Park Street Festival is an annual Puerto Rican celebration held in the heart of Hartford’s Puerto Rican community on Park Street.
ReadOne of the last old-time trolley parks, Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury has been a staple in Connecticut entertainment for over 100 years.
ReadHow the 19th-century cycling craze led to improved roads and paved the way for future federal highway construction.
ReadSharon attracted a substantial vacation community and between 1880 and 1920, wealthy visitors refurbished older homes or built Colonial Revival-style mansions.
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