While driving down busy Farmington Avenue in West Hartford Center, or trying to find a coveted…read moreparking space on a Friday night, it's difficult to imagine that West Hartford really does go way back to the 1670's. This one-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission has the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It's located on the busy corner of Main Street and Farmington Avenue in the heart of West Hartford. The marker relates the origins of West Hartford, how it was carved out of an area of Hartford and bounded by the neighboring towns of Bloomfield and Newington in the 1670's. West Hartford's first settler was believed to be Stephen Hosmer, and he built a mill on Trout Brook Drive in 1679. It was officially named as West Hartford in 1806 and was the birthplace of Noah Webster, the father of American scholarship and compiler of the first American dictionary. The marker was dedicated in 1970 and still looks great.

Courage Sacrifice Honor Determination…read more1959 1975 (Monument inscription) While looking for some background material on this monument, I found an excellent NY Times article from 1985, the year this monument was dedicated.. The small town of Wallingford sent 676 men and women to Vietnam. Twelve soldiers died there. Some of Wallingford's returning veterans wanted to build a Vietnam Memorial to honor the service of their colleagues. There was opposition from some folks of an "older generation of veterans" who didn't think the Vietnam vets deserved a monument. The article quoted a belief of some that "Losers don't deserve a monument". So the vets decided to pursue and fund the monument on their own. They raised $80,000 from T-shirt sales, car washes, garage sales, dinners and raffles. Local artists donated their services to help the monument become a reality. The design is striking- an eleven foot tall tilted V-shaped wedge of black granite. The artist who designed the monument said that the tilted angle represents "an inconclusive end to an undeclared war". The sides of the Wedge bear the names of hundreds of Wallingford's Vietnam vets. Some of the names are shadowed in a gold leaf to represent those Killed in Action. The V-shaped inscription reads: During the 16 years the war continued American Soldiers Sailors, Airmen and Marines fought with heroism and determination under some of the most difficult circumstances ever encountered by American armed forces. Tragically, upon their return home they received virtually no recognition for their service and sacrifice because of the raging controversy over United States policy in conducting the war. 300,000 were wounded in action 75,000 were permanently disabled 58,118 were killed in combat Later, thousands more would die as a result of gunshot wounds and the dioxin code named "agent orange" As of this date, November 11th, 1985, ten years after the fall of the Saigon government and twelve years after the removal of American ground forces from Vietnam, 2,489 brave Americans remain missing in action or held prisoners of war. They Are Not Forgotten

The Avon Veteran's Memorial is located on the Town Green at the intersection of West Main Street…read more(Route 202) and Ensign Drive. It lists 719 Veterans from Avon who served their country from the Mexican War to the Persian Gulf War, and separately honors 41 Veterans who gave their lives in four wars. The inscription that precedes the names of the deceased reads "Avon Remembers, No Greater Gift". The names are engraved on a series of seven panels that fan out in a gentle arc. A central stone podium bears the inscription "Dedicated to veterans of all wars". There are two large flagpoles in the center of the monument. The memorial is often used as a gathering place for Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances and ceremonies. The memorial was erected in 1986, and updated in 1996 by Avon VFW Post 3272. The flagpoles were sponsored by the Avon-Canton Rotary Club.

The Great River Park is a small park right off the highway, in East Hartford. This park is right on…read morethe Connecticut River. There were a number of people fishing and some were walking. There are some picnic benches if you'd like to be the one with nature while enjoying your lunch. This park is very clean, the grass has been cut recently. There's a substantial amount of trash cans, so no one should be littering on the park. On the other side of the river is where you'll find the capital city of Hartford. With some tall insurance buildings as well as the historic Colt Armory building, that is in plain sight. This is a nice place to step outside, if you happen to be working in one of the close by offices. This however, isn't my favorite or go to park because of how noisy the highway traffic can be.

I adore walking in the park every day on my lunch. I usually walk across the bridge into Hartford,…read moreloop back and then loop down and through the park to get a bit of fresh air. The statues are cool to see during the different seasons, and it's just a nice, quiet, contemplative area to visit. My office overlooks the park too so it's cool to see what's going on if I ever need to daydream out my window.

The marker tells us that Middlefield was settled "around" 1700 by two Samuels and a Benjamin. When…read morewas the town chartered? How about two-hundred and seventy years later, in 1971! It also tells us via a gigantic list what was manufactured here over the years. How about lumber, snuff, black powder, knives, pistols, cotton products, grist, buttons, nails, iron wire, paper, and clothes wringers. That's quite an eclectic list! Now be honest, did you know what grist is? I didn't so I looked it up. It's a processed grain that is ground into meal or flour. This is a one-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It is fastened to an exterior wall near the main entrance of Middlefield Town Hall at 393 Jackson Hill Road. The marker was dedicated in 1981 and is in excellent condition

It's a very cohesive memorial on a small plot of greenery. Around an American flag, there are…read moremonuments to those who served and fell from Burlington from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. It seems most accessible parking at the historical society, or the church across the very busy route 4. There is also a gazebo on the green so you can observe them under a sheltered location. The ending of the Civil War memorial is a bit sad. At the conclusion of the list of names, it ends with, "and those known but to God".

I've seen quite a few veterans memorials, but until today I never saw one that honored vets of a…read moredifferent war on each side. This monument honors Burlington's Civil War vets on one side and World War One vets on the other side! Curiously, the Civil War plaque is in a lot better condition than the WW One plaque. The Civil War plaque bears the inscription: The Town Of Burlington Has Not Forgotten Her Beloved Brothers Who Offered Their Lives To Preserve The Union 1861 - 1865 A list of 88 names follows. Some of the names are preceded by an asterisk., The plaque is also dedicated to "and those known but to God". The World War One plaque bears the inscription: Let Us Hold In Honored Memory Those Who Served Their Country In The World War 1917 1919 A list of 43 names follows. The plaque is in poor condition and is very hard to read.

I was in Union Station tonight, waiting for my brother-in-law's train to arrive from New York…read more Being the night before Thanksgiving, the train station was packed and there was nowhere to sit, so I took a leisurely stroll around the building when I saw a plaque mounted on a wall by the rear staircase. Turns out the plaque commemorates the very first commercial electrical service in the state --way back in 1883. The plaque was presented by the Connecticut chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The electrical service was provided by a new utility company named The Hartford Electric Light Company. They put on a lighting demonstration at Union Station using a coal-fired boiler to generate steam, which powered a generator to produce direct current. The electricity powered 21 lights that lit up the train station, 2 drug stores, a bar, a bakery, and a few shops. The Hartford Daily Courant proclaimed: "The push and enterprise of the new company promises well for the early use of electric lights on the principal streets of the city." The 20th Century was knocking on the door.

For more than a year, the Drummer Boy statue has been AWOL from its old location on the Bloomfield…read moreVillage Green. But I'm happy to say that the statue has been spiffed up, revitalized, and relocated. It's still on the Village Green but moved to a prominent location at the major intersection of Park Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue. The statue was removed as part of "Phase Two" of a Village Green renovation project. The green was revitalized with new benches and walkways, a gorgeous green lawn, and major repairs to the statue which was in a state of disrepair. Some of the work included removing corrosion by blasting, a new metal coating, and replacement of the drum skin. The Drummer Boy's Drum is a significant piece of Bloomfield's history. Known as "the Brown Drum" they were manufactured on Bloomfield's Brown Street by the Brown family -first Benjamin Brown and then his nephew Eli Brown. The Drummer Boy symbolizes a "march toward liberty, justice and equality" by America's early Patriots.