A recently restored powder house in Fairfield was built in 1814 to help the town defend itself against possible British invasion during the War of 1812. The powder house, which stands behind Tomlinson Middle School on Fairfield’s Unquowa Road, is believed to be the only remaining example in Connecticut of numerous such buildings used to […]
Nathan Hale’s brief tenure as an East Haddam schoolmaster is honored with a local monument as well as the schoolhouse in which he taught. The Nathan Hale bust, dedicated in 1905, stands in the original location of the schoolhouse in what is now a small triangular park at the intersection of Main Street (Route 149) […]
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A large obelisk in Putnam Memorial State Park honors American Revolution soldiers who established winter quarters in Redding. Units under Gen. Israel Putnam spent the winter of 1778-79 at the site, which was chosen to allow the deployment of troops to defend towns in coastal Connecticut, New York City or the Hudson River valley. The […]
A large boulder in the Devon section of Milford once served as a lookout station during the American Revolution. Liberty Rock, the highest point in its neighborhood, was used during the revolution to observe nearby Long Island Sound as well as the Boston Post Road. The large boulder, originally known as Hog Rock, was renamed […]
Monuments on both sides of the Old North Bridge in Concord, Mass., mark the site of the first militia victory in the American Revolution. The famous “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired on April 19, 1775, by a member of a militia raised from Concord and nearby towns including Acton, Bedford and Lincoln. The […]
The first major battle of the American Revolution is commemorated with a large granite obelisk in the Charlestown section of Boston. The 221-foot obelisk was dedicated in 1843 to honor the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was fought on June 17, 1775, on Breed’s Hill (more about the hills later). Inside the monument, 294 steps […]
Southington’s Civil War veterans are honored with an 1880 monument in the center of the town green. The granite Soldiers’ Monument depicts a clean-shaven Civil War soldier standing with a rifle. A relatively simple dedication on the front (east) face reads, “The defenders of our Union. 1861-1865.” The east face also features an intricate carving […]
During a break in the wet snow blanketing southern Connecticut today, we again visited the 1888 Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Monument honoring Milford’s Civil War veterans. Unlike the tulips and holiday lights we saw on earlier visits to the monument, wet snow clung to much of the monument, including the eagle on the front (east) face […]
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Ansonia honors the hiding of provisions from invading British troops with a monument in its Pork Hollow neighborhood. The monument, near the corner of Wakelee Avenue and Pork Hollow Street, was dedicated in 1901 to commemorate an 1777 incident during which military supplies and food were hidden from British troops. The provisions, stored in a […]
A tall monument topped by an allegorical standard-bearer honors Newtown’s soldiers and sailors. The monument features three pillars rising from a base dominated by benches. A dedication on the west face of the monument’s base reads, “Newtown remembers with grateful prayers and solemn vows her sacred dead [and] her honored living who ventured all unto […]