New Haven
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Old Connecticut Route 17 Marker
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This is supposed to be a stub for the unbuilt East Rock Connector, but it just looked like part of the parking lot to me.
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The monument in East Rock Park. We wanted to go there back in March, but the park was still closed for the season.
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Panoramic photo of the new Interstate 95 bridge being built over New Haven Harbor. This view is from Quinnipiac Park on James Street.
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A wind turbine near Quinnipiac Park.
Trumbull
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Our next stop was in Trumbull, more or less west of New Haven. We visited a Junction CT-25 sign that had definitely seen better days.
Stevenson
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The road meet's final stop was in Stevenson where we saw the Stevenson Hydroelectric Dam. It was built on the Housatonic River in 1919. It created Lake Zoar which is the fifth largest freshwater body in Connecticut.
New Haven (again)
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On the way back to the restaurant, we took the Wilbur Cross Parkway (CT-15). Just before our exit, we passed through Heroes' Tunnel (formerly West Rock Tunnel). It's the only vehicular tunnel to pass beneath a land feature in all of New England.
Norwich
After saying our goodbyes, my son and I set out to complete our collection of Declaration of Independence signers in Connecticut (Collect All Four!).
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Kelly sitting on the historic marker for The Old Burying Ground in Norwich. The text reads:
The Old Burying Ground
The cemetery dates from 1715. One of the first to be interred here was 21 year old Simon Huntington, who died from a rattlesnake bite, probably while haying.
Today, only 1,300 tombstones remain visible. It is thought that perhaps thousands may have been buried here. The headstones bear the names of many Norwich founding families. Among them are 69 individuals who fought in the struggle for independence. Together with these, are buried French soldiers, our allies during the Revolution, and the mother of Benedict Arnold, Hannah Waterman Arnold. Other early settlers of Norwich are buried in an older nearby cemetery, but those grave markers too have long since disappeared.
Nestled into the hillside is the red brick tomb and resting place of Samuel Huntington. He was elected President of the Second Continental Congress from 1779 and served until July of 1781. This was the Congress which framed the Declaration of Independence, to which he was a signatory for Connecticut. He was also Chief Justice of the state and its governor until his death.
Marker donated by Major J.D. Robertson Family.
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The memorial to Lafayette's twenty soldiers who died in Norwich in 1778.
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Kelly is sitting with Hannah Arnold's gravestone. The nearby plaque reads:
Once upon a time in Norwich...
an 18 year old Benedict Arnold stood on this spot and watched as they lowered his long-suffering mother into her grave. Benedict himself was an apprentice, bound by indentured servitude to his mother's cousins, the Lathrop Brothers. His father was suffering from alcohol-induced dementia, believed caused by his sadness over losing four children: Absalom, Elizabeth, Mary, and an earlier son named Benedict, who died an infant in 1739. The children are all buried here.
Hannah Arnold died on August 15, 1759; her husband some years later. Young Benedict moved to New Haven with his sister, Hannah, and became extremely successful. He married Margaret Mansfield who died June 19, 1775. In New Haven, Arnodl founded and commanded the 2nd Connecticut Foot Guard. During the American Revolution, he was a hero and became George Washington's finest field general, winning many victories. Benedict Arnold built and commanded America's first naval fleet of 16 vessels. The crew included 30 Marines that engaged the British in America's first naval battle at Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, October 11, 1776.
After the Battle of Saratoga, October 7, 1777, British General John Burgoyne said of Arnold, "It was his victory." Then a major general, Arnold was severely wounded and crippled for life. Assigned to Philadelphia, he married Margaret Shippen from a neutralist-loyalist family. She was later awared a lifetime pension by King George III for "Her service to the Crown in the Colonies." General Arnold, after the marriage, betrayed his young country and retured his loyalty to the Crown and planned to surrender West Point, which he later commanded, and General Washington to the British. To this day, he is America's most infamous traitor.
As British brigadier, he was ordered by Commanding General Henry Clinton to rout the privteers from the Port of New London. On September 6, 1781, troops under the command of Benedict Arnold burned the City of New London. Other British troops, under the command of Lt. Colonel Edmund Eyre, attacked Fort Griswold in Groton where many lives were lost in what was described as a massacre.
Local citizens, outraged at the treasonous act, descended as a mob on this cemetery and removed the gravestones of the father, Benedict, and the infant son, Benedict.
The only epitaph that remains is to Hannah King Arnold:
IN MEMORY of Hannah he well beloved Wife of Capt. Benedict Arnold & Daughter of Mr. John & Elizabeth Waterman, (She was a Pattern of Piety Patience and Virtue) who died August 15, 1759 AEtatis Suae 52"
This plaque sponsored by Bill & Peg Stanley
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The burial crypt of Samuel Huntington, a man with an impressive résumé. In addition to signing the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from Connecticut, he signed the Articles of Confederation, was the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled, and later the 3rd Governor of Connecticut.
Lebanon
William Williams replaced Oliver Wolcott in the Second Continental Congress. As such, he did not vote on the Declaration of Independence, but did sign it. Williams was also a pastor and merchant in his home town of Lebanon, and is buried in the Old Cemetery there.
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The Trumbull or Old Cemetery in Lebanon
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Kelly at the grave of William Williams
Manchester/South Windsor
We love Sonic Drive-in and had planned on having dinner at the new one in Manchester, but when we got there it was packed. While this is great for Sonic, it didn't work out so well for us, so we went up Buckland Street to the Johnny Rockets at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor. We had a great dinner and are looking forward to the next road meet.
Koala Kitchen
http://www.koalakitchen.com/
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