Things I learned from the Deep River Historical Marker:…read more They had a bustling manufacturing and shipping industry here way back in the 1600's. Things like wood barrels, lumber, pianos, shipbuilding, and the ivory trade represented Deep River's early industries. This is a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It's located right in front of the Deep River Historical Society. The marker was dedicated in 1980 and is in pretty good condition. I did notice some fading on the blue background on the front side of the marker. 170th marker visited. All CT Towns accounted for.

This marker is right by the front door of the North Stonington Town Hall…read more It is jam packed with information about the commercial and industrial heritage of the town. I read about three kinds of mills (fullen mills for woolen cloth-making, grist mills for grinding grain into flour, and saw mills for cutting logs into lumber), plus tanneries, iron works, cabinetry, dye making, dry goods and grocery stores, textiles, and farming. It's a 1-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It is fastened to the front exterior wall of Town Hall. The marker was dedicated in 1983 and is showing signs of chipping at the top of the marker and fading on the blue background.

http://www.wheelerlibrary.org/walkingtour.htm…read more You could easily blow right by this place without noticing it. The little village of North Stonington (once called Milltown) is small and quaint. This grist mill wheel was built by Frank Limpert in the early 1800's and the house is known as the Andrew Baldwin House. Limpert also built the series of dams across the Pendleton Hill Brook to access water more quickly in case of fires.

In the final 79 words of this plaque's inscription, the words "art" or "artist" are mentioned five…read moretimes. Artists began congregating in Old Lyme in the early 1800's, and the town continues to be a popular artists' colony to this day. The marker is located on the front lawn of the Old Lyme Town Hall. It's a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission, in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has different inscriptions on each side. The marker is in pretty good shape with minor fading on the blue background on both sides. 164 CT towns down, 6 to go The full inscription reads: As early as the 1640's settlers from Saybrook cleared and planted land on the east side of the Connecticut River in what is now Old Lyme. The first recorded grant of land, in 1649, was to Matthew Griswold in the Black Hall quarter. By 1665 the inhabitants on the east bank, "... desiring to be a plantation by themselves: do declare that they have a competency of Lands to entertain thirty families", and agreed with those on the west bank upon a "loving parting" by which a separate community was established. Two years later the General Court of Connecticut ordered that "... ye Plantation on ye East side ye River over agt Say-brooke for ye future be named Lyme." The settlement, some eighty square miles, included the present towns of Old Lyme, East Lyme, Lyme and part of Salem. The General Court gave consent to Lyme in 1678 to found a church society, which was not formally organized for fifteen years. Meeting House Hill, east of Duck River, was the site of two 17th century meetinghouses and one of the 18th. Samuel Belcher designed a fourth, built in 1817, to face the green at the south end of Lyme Street. After it burned in 1907, a replica became as favored a subject for artists as was the original. Seaborne trade began in 1650 with exportation of barrel staves on the ship TRYALL, starting a lucrative commerce with the West Indies. In the 19th century Lyme was divided four towns. This comminute in 1855 was named South Lyme, renamed Old Lyme two years later. From a summer colony of artists at the turn of the century evolved the Lyme School of Art, the Lyme Art Association, and the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. Nearby on Lyme Street stands the Florence Griswold House of 1817, which lodged the artists and is now the headquarters of the Lyme Historical Society, where many of their works may be seen. Erected by the Town of Old Lyme the Lyme Historical Society and the Connecticut Historical Commission 1979

Things I learned from the Guilford marker:…read more 1) Guilford dates to 1639, but that's only good for seventh place on the list of oldest Connecticut towns. 2) Guilford's settlers bought the land from a Squaw named Shaumpishuh. 3) During the American Revolution, British troops landed in Guilford and burned down two houses. Located on the huge Guilford Town Green is this 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission, in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has different inscriptions on both sides. The marker was dedicated in 1980 and although the blue background and white lettering are crisp with no signs of fading or peeling, unfortunately I did see some vandalism and graffiti on both sides. The full inscription reads: Guilford This town, the seventh oldest in Connecticut, was founded in 1639 by an oppressed but optimistic band of English Puritans. Henry Whitfield, a minister in Ockley, near London, was the moving spirit behind their emigration. About forty of his friends and sympathizers formed a joint stock company to sail across the Atlantic. They were mostly young and energetic men, farmers, well-educated, and all of them persons of high standing in their community. In a deed of sale dated September 29, 1639, the Whitfield Company purchased the lands between Stony Creek and East River from the Squaw Shaumpishuh, Sachem of the local Menunkatuck Indian tribe. Whitfield's stone house at first served as a fortress and meeting place. Guilford Green was inspired by the typical 17th century English common. In the fall of 1641 the settlers purchased from the Indians land beyond East River that included most of what became East Guilford. East Guilford, now Madison, was set off as a distinct church society in 1703, North Guilford in 1720, and North Bristol (North Madison) in 1753. Two good harbors and two tidal rivers assured success to Guilford in Connecticut - New York coastwise shipping and the West India trade during the 18th century. In the American Revolution British troops landed several times and burned two houses. The famous Sachem's Head Hotel (1832-1865) and Guilford Point House (1797-1897) made this town the center of society for many years. John Beattie's granite quarries at Leete's Island employed as many as three hundred workmen and supplied stone for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Famous sons of Guilford include William Leete, an early Governor of Connecticut; Fitz-Greene Halleck, one of the noted Knickerbocker Poets; and Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the United States Constitution and a Senator from Georgia. Erected by the Town of Guilford The Guilford Foundation The Guilford Keeping Society and the Connecticut Historical Commission 1980 158 CT towns done, 12 to go

Beautiful colonial era home with outbuildings. The smiths discovered granite on the property and…read morestarted a granite business. The house was restored to its colonial origins in the 1920's and is furnished in a manner consistent with the wealthy colonials. Our volunteer docent was descended from the Smiths and was extremely knowledgeable and proud of what they had achieved there. They have also established a granite museum that provides a brief history and a depiction of the granite harvesting and refinement process. We called for reservations and flexibility is key.

A town with a…read more history from the sea The town of Clinton, Connecticut was founded in 1663 and is located about 25 miles east of New Haven. It's one of the smallest towns in all of Connecticut in terms of size and once contain the area of Killingworth to the north. Clinton is very much still a beach town and the population of around 15,000 more than doubles in size during the summer months with the influx of tourists. Clinton's history is closely connected to the sea. Shipbuilding, fishing and tourism has long been a part of Clinton. The shipbuilding and fishing have pretty much disappeared but tourism is still the main source of income. Even though it takes only about a minute to drive from one end to the other, you will see a fair number of antique shops and nice restaurants on Main Street. One the interesting things about Clinton is the absolutely huge variety of houses. For such a small area you can find multi million dollar mansions on the beach, cool old historic houses on Main Street, modest ranches in the north and even a couple of trailer parks. It seems every single house in Clinton is different. One of the things that you won't find unless you look very hard is the water. They keep that a secret and that is one of the problems. There is a town beach but that's in the harbor but it's frequently more mud than water. The real beach is on Shore Road and that is very private. Being private is fine but most other states in New England have some public access to the water, in Connecticut it's frequently difficult to even get a glimpse of it. I lived in Clinton for 15 years and over that time I have seen many changes. The street where we lived used to be a community, we had block parties, had a little grocery store and had people walking along the beach all the time. Everyone knew each other. Now the store is gone, the social events have stopped and people have become even more possessive of the water. Walls and fences, even through illegal, extend down from the beaches into the water. No trespassing signs have appeared. Many of the smaller homes and cottages along the beach have been replaced by huge, looming and impersonal homes. Quite a few were built during the housing boom and now have for sale signs. The arrow to time moves forward, you can never go back. Places have to change and frequently the changes aren't particularly pleasant. But I still have a modicum of hope that shoreline Clinton can go back and recapture the sense of community and closeness that it once had. We shall see. I have added old postcards of Clinton many years ago instead of any contemporary photos.

This marker is a gold mine for cool Indian names from the Wangunk tribe. How about Sepunnemoe and…read moreTowkishk and Turramuggus and Unlaus? Those epic names alone makes this a four star worthy marker! It's a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. There is a different inscription on each side. You'll find it on a triangular patch of grass where Saybrook Road and Walkley Hill Roads converge. The marker was dedicated in 1976 and is in pretty decent condition, with the start of chipping and flaking on the back. The full inscription reads: In 1660 the General Court received a petition of "Severall members of this Collony prsenting their desires unto this Court of setling a Plantation at 30 Miles Island;" whereupon, a committee to view the land was appointed and reported back favorably. Thereafter, in 1662, two women, Sepunnemoe and Towkishk, with Turramuggus, Unlaus, and others of the Wangunk Indian tribe, sold land (Haddam) to agents of the Colony of Connecticut. On October 8, 1668, the town was incorporated by this Act: "The Court orders that the plantation of Thirty Mile Island shall ... be called Haddum, and this Court grants them the power and Priuiledg of a Plantation." In the following year the General Court granted "... that the bownds of Haddum shall runn from the great Riuer westward into the wilderness six miles, and from the great Riuer eastward into the wilderness six miles. (Side 2) The Original Proprietors Nicholas Ackley * Joseph Arnold * John Baiey * James Bates * Daniel Brainerd * Thomas Brooks * Samuel Butler * William Carke * Daniel Cone * William Corbee * Abram Dibble * Samuel Ganes * George Gates * John Hannison * Richard Jones * Stephen Luxford * John Parents * Richard Piper * Thomas Shayler * Simon Smith * Thomas Smith * Gerrard Spencer * John Spencer * Joseph Stannard * William Ventres * James Wells * John Webb * John Wiatt Erected by the Town of Haddam The American Revolution Bicentennial Committee of Haddam and the Connecticut Historical Commission May 30, 1976