The town of Enfield is in the very north of Connecticut, right against the Massachusetts state line on the east bank of the Connecticut River. Enfield is a rather quiet place, with an idyllic Town Green and historic district. Most of the commerce is clustered on a strip mall along Hazard Avenue, while there’s much …
The longest coastline of any settlement in Connecticut is found at this city, West of New Haven and bounded by the Housatonic River. What surprises me is just how varied Milford’s shoreline can be, at the bird-rich Charles Island and Milford Point or sandy stretches like Walnut Beach. The entire shore is primed for outdoor …
Just before the Quinnipiac River flows into New Haven Harbor it curls through the town of North Haven. Naturally, New Haven and Yale University will be on your radar in North Haven. Still, the town has its own history, which you’ll glimpse on the 300-year-old Town Green and at the North Haven Historical Society. The …
Study a map of New Haven and you’ll see a four-by-four grid at its heart, dating from 1638 when this was the first planned city in America. Since 1701 New Haven’s story has been intertwined with that of Yale University, the Collegiate Gothic campus of which is scattered across downtown. Being a university town, New …
In the 19th and early 20th century Southington was a town of heavy industry edged by fruit farms. During that time the town’s manufacturers were responsible for a few world-firsts. For instance, the first cement that could harden under water was developed here, along with the first carriage bolt cutting machine. Nearly all of this …
This small town in eastern Connecticut has little villages, scenic roads winding into upland countryside and remnants of mills from the 18th and 19th centuries. The landscape is dotted with public natural spaces linked by paths like the Blue-Blazed Nipmuck Trail. I don’t think it’s a shock, but the colors in fall are nothing short …
In Greater Hartford lies what is thought to be Connecticut’s oldest permanent European settlement, founded in 1634. Testament to its age, Wethersfield is represented on the Connecticut State Flag as one of the three grapevines, alongside Windsor and Hartford. Over the next 200 years Wethersfield would grow as a port on the Connecticut River, bringing …
An hour out of NYC at the foot of the Berkshires is a 300-year-old town with an upscale air. Ridgefield lays claim to the only national park in the United States devoted to the arts. This is the home and studio of the Impressionist J. Alden Weir, and one of my favorite spots, anywhere in …
The capital of Connecticut is one of the oldest cities in the United States, dating all the way back to 1635. In the 19th century Hartford became a center for abolitionism, producing the likes of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote the influential Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). After the Civil War this was the richest city …
A small town in southwestern Connecticut’s Fairfield County, Newtown has a history dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. At that time the land was purchased by English colonists from the Pootatuck Native Americans who had lived by the Housatonic River for centuries. A local claim to fame that I discovered in Newtown …