I see Dan R.'s review from 10 years ago about this historical marker. Here is my update:…read more The historical marker is located in Union Park. There is a gazebo and a soldier's monument on the same property. The historical marker looked pretty well-kempt; the navy blue was bright and not too faded and the letters were legible. I didn't see any rust or damage. I like reading these markers because it gives me a brief history lesson about the area. It was home to the Wangunk Indian Tribe and located at the bend of the Connecticut River. From this river, ships sailed to the West Indies and ports in the East Coast for trade. It is the halfway point between Saybrook and Windsor, hence the name Middle Town. In 1784, it became one of the 5 cities in Connecticut. Overall, it's a vibrant community; I enjoyed exploring the area and visiting this historical marker.

Ever wonder what the "middle" in Middletown refers to? C"mon,,, admit it,,, sure you have…read more Well it refers to "halfway between Saybrook and Windsor". There's a ton of more information on this plaque - like Middletown is one of the five oldest towns in the state, and it was a center of resistance to the Brits during the Revolution. This is a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has different inscriptions on each side, and is located just off Main Street in Union Park. . It was dedicated in 1981 and the blue paint and white lettering are in pretty good shape. There is no cracking or peeling, but the blue background is just starting to fade a little. The full inscription reads: The area known as Mattabesett, home of the Wangunk Indian tribe, was settled by English colonists from Hartford and Wethersfield in 1650. Situated at the big bend in the Connecticut River, it was named Middletown because it lay halfway between Saybrook and Windsor. Its location on the "Great Tidal River" led to a prosperous shipping economy during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. From Middletown, ships sailed to ports along the East Coast and in the West Indies. Crafts and trades such as pewter making and shipbuilding flourished, as did agriculture in the surrounding countryside. During the Revolutionary War, Middletown became a center of resistance to the British Crown. Many of its citizens, including such men as Jabez Hamlin; Nehemiah and Elijah Hubbard; Titus Hosmer, Esquire; General Comfort Sage; Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs; and Colonel John Sumner, played important roles in the struggle for American independence. ( back ) The town was incorporated as a city in 1784, one of the first five in Connecticut. Commodore Thomas Macdonough, an outstanding naval officer in the War of 1812 against Great Britain, made his home in Middletown and was buried here in Riverside cemetery. Long the seat of the Court of Middlesex County, Middletown became the site of Wesleyan University in 1831. General Joseph K. F. Mansfield, killed in action at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, and numerous other Middletown men served bravely in the 1861-1865 war to preserve the Union of the North American States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, immigrants arrived from Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Poland, and Italy, but most notably from the Sicilian town of Melilli. These later arrivals helped to enrich the fabric of the community and, together with others who followed, gave to the City the diverse and cosmopolitan quality it has today. Erected by The City of Middletown The Middlesex County Historical Society The Connecticut Historical Commission 1981

Located on Boston Post Road on the grounds of the Public Safety Complex (between Tiffany Avenue and…read moreSummer Street) is this 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission, in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has the same inscription on both sides. The marker is in poor condition with accelerated failure on both sides in the form of extensive fading and peeling of the blue background. Things I learned from the Waterford marker: 1) The town covers 36.7 square miles 2) The native Indians belonged to the Nehantic and Pequot tribes, before they were "displaced" by the English colonists 3) A sawmill was built here way back in 1653. The full inscription reads: Waterford Incorporated 1801 English colonists first harvested crops on Fog Plain and Mamacoke in 1645, gradually displacing the native Nehantic and Pequot Indians. Farm lots were allocated to individual colonists in 1651 and in 1653 a sawmill site and house lot were designated on Hunts Brook in Quaker Hill. The Jordan area was first mentioned in 1663 and Jordan Schoolhouse in 1737. Waterford gave thousands of acres to help form East Lyme in 1839 and two square miles were taken for New London by legislative action in 1899, leaving the present area of 36.7 square miles. Erected 1975 by Town of Waterford, the Waterford Historical Society and the Connecticut Historical Commission. 160 CT towns done, 10 to go

This is a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a…read moreblue background, It's located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue (Connecticut Route 161) and Smith Street, just in front of East Lyme Town Hall. The marker has the same inscription on both sides. It summarizes the town's settlement in the 1640's, its development into a separate town in 1839, it's textile industry heritage, and the origin of the name Niantic (a district of East Lyme), which was a spin on the name of the local Indian tribe, Nehantic. The rest of the plaque spotlights two historic houses, the Thomas Lee House (1660) and the Smith Harris House (1840), a "romantic" 1646 marriage, and the local beauty of Mother Nature's "beaches, ponds, streams, woodland, and fields". It ends with a tribute to the Niantic Scallop " a popular seafood". The marker was dedicated in 1980 and is still in very good condition with no fading to the blue background or white lettering. The lettering is still crisp and easy to read. Its located in a very pretty setting in front of Town Hall.

My first historical marker on Long Island and only my second in New York (after…read morehttps://www.yelp.com/biz/rockland-brinks-robbery-nyack?hrid=WiAuPeFUNpcWJ81PA-8vog in Nyack), this red one is located in the staging lot for the Cross Sound Ferry. It is in very good condition with only a little bit of peeling paint around the edges. The marker reads, "According to local legend, Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin set milestones in 1755 that park the Post Road from here to Riverhead." And yes, Riverhead is 30 miles from here. The Pomeroy Foundation has more information. "The legend has its origins in a journal entry from a 19th century local historian named Augustus Griffin. A resident of Orient, NY in the 1850s, he recorded a local story that Benjamin Franklin visited North Fork in 1755 to take a ferry to New London for the purpose of visiting his mother. Supposedly, on the way he used a special odometer to measure the road to Southold where he stayed at the inn of Augustus Griffin's grandfather before travelling on towards New London. Interestingly, no mention of road markers or Benjamin Franklin's role as joint postmaster for the British Crown were mentioned. This became the basis of the idea that Benjamin Franklin himself not only measured the road but installed the mile markers." The website does a fact check that basically prove that there's no way Ben Franklin did it but does provide the actual origin of "the only complete set of mile stones in the northeast, making them historic in their own right." [Review 15304 overall, 806 of 2021, number 193 in New York.]

Some interesting Durham history nuggets:…read more The land was bought from the "Long Swamp" Indians in 1673. One of Colonial America's earliest lending libraries was founded here in 1733. The starving troops at Valley Forge were fed by supplies carried from Durham to Pennsylvania by two oxen from Durham. Austin, Texas was named for Durham's Moses Austin. Metal toy and box factories! The wonderful Durham fair goes back to 1916. This is a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has the same inscription on both sides. It's located on a green in front of Town Hall and the library, near the intersection of Main Street and Maple Avenue. The marker was dedicated in 1979 and although the paint is in excellent condition, the marker and support posts have been whacked by something (a car or a tree limb?) and you can see a very noticeable split at the bottom of the sign. That's a shame, because there is some very cool stuff highlighted on the marker.

Things I learned from the Salem Historical Marker:…read more 1) The local Native Americans lived near a body of water named Fairy Lake. 2) Many Salem residents responded to the shootings at Lexington and Concord and fought in the Revolutionary War. 3) A music seminary, established in 1835, became the first US school to offer degrees for the teaching of music. The marker is located on a small green between the Salem Historical Society Museum and the Congregational Church of Salem It's a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission, in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has the same inscription on both sides. The marker is in pretty good shape with no peeling or chipping and some very minor fading of the blue background. However one of the sides appears to have a lot of tree pollen on it. 163 CT towns done, 7 to go

Voluntown is so old that it was settled by veterans that had volunteered to fight in the…read moreNarragansett Indian War. Ever heard of it? Nope, me neither. It was fought in the 1670's!! In their honor, the settlement was officially named Voluntown in 1708. It built its first schoolhouse in 1737 and a textile industry was in full swing by the early 1800s. Dedicated in 1977, this is a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It's located on the eastbound side of Route 138. It's a two-sided marker with different text on both sides. The marker's condition is average- with most of the signs in pretty good shape with small areas of peeling and the onsets of deterioration.

Things I learned from the Lebanon Historical Marker:…read more 1) The area was first settled by colonists way back in 1665. 2) A Revolutionary "War Office" and Council of Safety was established here because Lebanon was at the cross roads of travel between Norwich and Hartford and Boston. 3) Some pretty important people - George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and French officers French officers Count de Rochambeau, and Lafayette, among others, met here. 4) But my favorite is this- all hail native son William Beaumont -described as a "pioneer researcher in gastric digestion". This two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission has the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It's located in a veteran's park directly across the street from Town Hall. The marker was installed in 1976, and is in great shape with crisp white lettering and an unmarred blue background- both are in very good condition. The full inscription reads: Lebanon Poquechaneeg, the Indian name for the Lebanon area, was ceded to Englishmen in six tracts; the first was to Major John Mason in 1665. Settlement was begun in 1695 with fifty-one proprietors who apportioned among themselves home lots around the common. The town was formally organized in 1700 by gathering of a church and calling Pastor Joseph Parsons. By 1756, the population was 3,274, sixth in size in Connecticut. Jonathan Trumbull was Governor of Connecticut 1769-1784. In May, 1775 the General Assembly established a Council of Safety to plan the defense of the colony during the Revolutionary War. On the cross roads of routes from Norwich to Hartford and Boston to New York, Lebanon was the logical place to meet. Trumbull's store became the War Office, where met nearly 1200 sessions of the Council of Safety. Here conferred Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and William Williams, a native son and signer of the Declaration of Independence, with the French officers Count de Rochambeau, Duke de Lauzun, and General Lafayette, who commanded French troops that had been quartered in Lebanon during the winter of 1780-1781. The Trumbull family guided Lebanon folk in gathering supplies for the Continental Army making Connecticut the "Provision State". Lebanon is the birthplace of William Beaumont, pioneer researcher in gastric digestion, and of these Governors of Connecticut: Jonathan Trumbull. Jr 1797-1809 Clark Bissell 1847-1849 Joseph Trumbull 1849-1850 William A. Buckingham 1858-1866 Erected by the Town of Lebanon and the Connecticut Historical Commission 1976