Ancient Connecticut

Today we went to ancient Connecticut in more ways than one.  First, we visited Wethersfield, Connecticut settled by European colonists in 1634.  The draw for this town was a bend in the Connecticut River which caused a small natural

harbor to form.  The soil was extremely fertile, and the West Indian slave trade needed food to feed those slaves.  The Onions for Sugar and Rum trade was born.  In the mid 1700's over 13,000 'braids' (bunches of red onions with the tops braided together) were shipped to the West Indies. Onions were a key staple in a West Indian slave's diet.  This trade was an economic kick start for this town.  Unfortunately, the Connecticut River 'moved' as a result of a major storm, and Wethersfield's natural harbor disappeared and the river wasn't quite as convenient.  That misfortune preserved the Colonial houses we toured today.

This is a small town, and they've done a great job of preserving their heritage.  They are particularly proud that General George Washington planned the final campaign of the Revolutionary War in one of the houses we toured today.  He stayed for a week, and actually went to church in the meeting house.  The room that housed Washington has been preserved exactly as it was when he stayed.  This is the first time I've seen actual 18th century wallpaper - not a

reproduction - but the original stuff.  For some strange reason, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside these houses. My pictures are the exteriors of the three houses:  one owned by the first envoy to France from the United States of America:  Silas Deane, a wheeler dealer if there ever was one.  The second house was the Webb house - a prosperous merchant in the onion trade, and the Stevens house - a middle class Colonial family.  This town has over 100 Colonial houses, as well as 150 houses built during the Civil War era.  The 'meeting house' was formed in 1634, and the church is still in operation.  It's one of only 3 Colonial meeting houses still standing in New England.  

The second visitation today was to the really ancient Connecticut:  The Dinosaur State Park.  They discovered the largest collection of dinosaur tracks in a small town just a few miles from Wethersfield.  In 1966, a bulldozer operator was scraping a site in preparation for some construction and uncovered some strange rocks with

markings.  Importing a Yale paleontology professor (of course), the tracks were carefully uncovered.  Really interesting to look at marks made by an animal 100 million years ago.  

As always the real story is in the pictures:  

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/115478608971584948192/albums/5906956588870807697?authkey=CKOI6rXU9YL_pwE