State of Connecticut CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY Urn ) 3 iM/fx HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT History o£ Transportation in Connecticut PART X. I*35 - 1850 Hartford, Connecticut 1937 CONNECTICUT STATE PLANNING BOARD Members William L. Slate, Chairman Director, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Joseph VV. Alsop Chairman, Public Utilities Commission Arthur L. Clark Superintendent, Pish and Game Commission Maurice R. Davie Professor of Sociology, Yale University John J. Egan Secretary, Connecticut Federation of Labor Austin P. Hawes State Forester, Park and Forest Commission Edward Ingraham President, Ingraham Manufacturing Company William P. Ladd Adjutant General John A. MacDonald Commissioner, State Highway Department Stanley H. Osborn Commissioner, State Health Department Sanford H. Wadhams Director, State Water Commission P. Perry Close Director Joseph T; Woodruff Consultant, National Resources Committee Office Room 432, State Office Building Hartford, Connecticut PREFACE This historical outline of the progressive devel- opment of transportation in Connecticut by waterway, highway, railway and airway drawn from many sources represents an effort to furnish the background necessary for a readier interpretation of the Connecticut Statutes relating to transportation. The History falls rather naturally into two parts. Part One covering the simpler waterway and turnpike era; and Part Two the more complex period since the advent of the rail- road, - a period of just over one hundred years, - which in addition to the railroad has seen the development of the horse car, trolley, bieyele?automobile and airplane. The text is fully referenced in both parts to notes found at the end of the work, and there is added bibliography on the subject. The compilers desire to express their appreciation to William B. Goodwin of Hartford for much original information relative to stage coach operations in the 1880s and to the staff of the State Library for efficient assistance cheerfully rendered at all times. Theodore P. Moser H. Jackson Tippet Part I. CONTENTS Eage No. Travel and Transportation by Land The earliest ways; trodden pathsj travel by horseback 1635-1700. 1 The later colonial period; the first wagon routes and the coming of the stage coaches 1700-1775. 6 The period of the revolutionary war and realiza- tion of the vital need for better lines of com- munication 1776-1781. 11 The post-war decade; the birth of a nation promoted unprecedented development in interstate travel. 13 The era of turnpikes; state-operated toll gates and bridges, slow but steady progress in pro- vision of more and better roads 1793-1353. 15 Reference Notes Bibliography TRAVEL and TRANSPORTATION by LAND. THE EARLIEST WAYS, 1655 » 1708. At the time of the establishment of the first settlements various parts of the territory now known as Connecticut were con- nected by trails which were made and used by the Indians and form- ed a considerable network of criss-crossing routes• They ware in general indirect, narrow, twisted and circuitous. They sought the high ground, avoided the swamps and led to the easiest fords across 1 streams. It is believed by some that these trails formed the basis of the paths and roads which were later developed by the 2 Colonists but this may well be doubted because of the general plan which the layout of the towns followed. The Indian trails probably served to lead the settlers to desirable sites for the establishment of their homes but were of little value as transport- 3 ation routes because of their general characteristics. In the earliest records are found references to the "trod- den paths" which were way4 s worn down by the movement of human be- ings and their animals. To get a picture of these and the town roads which followed it is necessary to consider the layout of a typical Connecticut town. Around a central green or broad main street were the home lots and a meeting house conveniently located. Beyond these were the meadows, pastures and woodlands• Strips of the meadows were allotted to the owners of the home lots as their own, but the rest was usually common land. Paths or roads to these places were laid out so that one could go to and from them and his home lot without trespassing on another's land. It will be seen at once that this arrangement did not contemplate an expanding community or development along any definite plan. The layout of the nine squares of the original New Haven colony appears to be a striking exception. But there were newcomers and as it was necessary to grant them land, it had to be that lying beyond that already granted. In time home lots were established at con- siderable distances from the center, to reach which for either market or meeting, required those people to cross land previously allotted* Thus conflicts of interest arose since the first comers did not wish to have their lands divided by highways. Official action in establishing routes was often long delayed, and even when highways were ordered laid out by the town authorities re- sistance was met by fences, bars or gates where the roads crossed private land. People used the roads but the obstructions re- mained. Fences were climbed, bars removed and replaced, gates opened and closed with each passing. Such conditions were toler- ated for many years, continuing in some parts until well into the eighteenth century. There was also extreme reluctance on the part of land- owners to give up any right or privilege for any public benefit, unless at the same time such loss was to result in an immediate 6 gain of some sort by way of compensation for the detriment. To- wards the roads the general feeling was one of resentment, a feel- • ing that the roads encroached on one's own land and produced no 7 especial good to the abutting land owner. At first, except for the main street, the town roads 8 were little more than crude paths. Through usage they became gradually broader and some of them attained a width of five or 99 six rods. The majority were only partly cleared and still encumbered with stumps, fallen trees, stones and boulders• Not infrequently they were used as dumping grounds for refuse. If any earth or stones in a road were needed by an adjacent land owner, he showed no hesitancy in taking them regardless 10 of the holes left by such action. Until 1699 the entire burden of laying out, construct- ing and maintaining highways was placed upon the town, but little interest was displayed1 1i n providing satisfactory connecting routes through the township• In that year, however, the duty of lay- 12 ing out through routes was placed upon the County Courts• These• 13 roads were known as the country roads or King's Highways. They were no more than a wide path cut through the forest with little or no attempt at surface improvement. They were much worse than the town roads and at certain seasons impassable. There was nothing resembling a cooperative spirit between the towns and no sense of any obligation to 14provid e the traveling public with suitable highway facilities. Two other factors also worked against any great improvement of the through routes at this time. The first was the fact that most of the early settlements were on bodies of navigable water, which made it easier to go from one to the other by boat, than to build a road through rough 15 woodland. The other was the general policy of England to oppose intercolonial intercourse. With the settlements near the water, trade was encouraged between them and England direct, thus drawing the profits to the home market. The purpose of a colony, it was felt, was to produce raw material to be fabricated in England, a part of which was then sent back to be exchanged for more raw - 3 - 16 products• Where the highways crossed the smaller streams bridges, of a sort, were constructed. They were mainly huge logs and tree trunks resting on either bank poorly secured. The bridges were frequently washed away by the spring freshets. Where it oould be done, the rivers were forded in several places. Little money for bridges was available in communities where the planters 17 even complained of the cost of fences for their meadow lots. Perries were used to c ross the larger rivers. One of the 18 earliest was Bissell's at Windsor - established around 1645. The ferry at New London made its first appearance in 1651. It was a crude canoe hollowed from an immense tree trunk and capable of carrying several men and animals. It was put in use so that Governor Winthrop could go from his home on one side of the Thames to his fields on the other, but was soon of general ser- vice. Two years later a scow with sails and oars replaced the original boat and this type remained as late as 1800. In 1821 a rope and windlass operated by horses furnished the motive power. 1835 saw the first attempt at a steam ferry boat, which proved so expensive that it was abandoned and the horse boat restored. With improvements in steamboats another steam ferry boat was put in operation in 1849 and this type was used until the service 19 was discontinued in the early 1920s. As time went on other • ferries were established at important points, among which were those at Saybrook, Saugatuck, Hartford and Niantic, the latter • being a rope ferry from the beginning. A single boat at each 20 of these ferries was sufficient during the seventeenth century. Within the towns the highways were used mainly by persons going short distances on foot and by the herds and flocks be- 21 ing moved from one place to another by the farmers.