Sharon Valley Lime Kiln, Sharon – Doug Kerr
The Litchfield County town of Sharon is located in Connecticut’s northwestern corner and its western border abuts New York State. The General Assembly incorporated the town in 1739 and named it after the Plain of Sharon, a fertile region mentioned in the Bible. Iron manufacture sustained Sharon, and in the early 1800s town resident Asahel Hotchkiss produced home and farm goods, including rakes, buckles, and currycombs, from locally mined ore. During the Civil War, the town made munitions and invented the Hotchkiss explosive shell. Today, Sharon is a quiet bedroom community where iron stacks from the days when industry ruled the area can still be seen.
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Turnpikes and Transportation in Sharon
The town of Sharon, like many early communities in the colony, required basic road and bridge infrastructure in order to maintain a thriving community. …[more]
Learn More
Websites
Sharon Historical Society. “Discover Sharon History Resources,” 2016. Link.
Video
Kirby, Edward M. Visions of Iron the Story of the Salisbury Iron District. DVD. Sharon, CT: Sharon Historical Society, 2008.
Places
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Housatonic Meadows State Park,” 2016. Link.
“The Sharon Historical Society & Museum,” 2016. Link.
Documents
Earl, Ralph. “Painting: Sharon, Connecticut,” 1796. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Art Inventories Catalog. Link.
“Sharon Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Books
Pawloski, John. Connecticut Mining. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2006.
Kirby, Ed. Echoes of Iron in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner: With a Field Guide to the Iron Heritage Trail. Sharon, CT: Sharon Historical Society, 1998.
Sedgwick, Charles. General History of the Town of Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn. from Its First Settlement. Amenia, NY: Charles Walsh, Printer and Publisher, 1877.
J.W. Lewis & Company. History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of the Prominent Men and Pioneers. Philadelphia, PA: J.W. Lewis & Company, 1881. Link.
Sharon Historical Society, and Edward Kirby. Seldom Told Tales of Sharon. Sharon, CT: Sharon Historical Society, 2004.
Sharon Historical Society, and Edward Kirby. Seldom Told Tales of Sharon. Book Two. Sharon, CT: Sharon Historical Society, 2008.
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