Farmington,Connecticut,thevillageofbeautifulhomes.Photographicreproductions,illustratingeveryhomeintown.Prominentpeoplepastandpresent,allschoolchildren,localantiques,etc ArthurL.Brandegee,EddyN.Smith .- > 7 V .' r .' ' ' -. .' / • 1 « , < . I : '7 ; .. - j , - - ^ . LIBRARYF O THE ■ - ' 1 ~ . 1 - Q l- — n# ■ L UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA . .> -. : < ..'. 3 y t '. ;( 1> ' i '. GIFTF O '..jr. '' . ' . r s ; » r , * ' *' 1 . ,"'»* 1 - . -'.'•>•■. **,,'''' - * Li: ''.'<.. f ^ v '\ ' & > j Jffarmltujtmt H gfy. HF.NHE T LORD MADE THE WORLD HE MADE ASIA, AFRICA, AND EUROPE, AND LAST OF ALL HE MADE NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. HE MADE THE AMERICAS WITH SPECIAL CARE, AS THAT IS THE PLACE WHERE THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD FINALLY COME TOGETHER. WHEN THE LORD WAS MAKING NEW ENGLAND, ONE OF THE LITTLE ANGELS ASKF.D THAT HE TOO MIGHT MAKE A STATU. SO THE LORD LET HIM MAKE THE STATE OF CONNEC TICUT. AS THE LITTLE ANGELS SHAPED THE RIVERS AND BUILT UP THE MOUNTAINS, I11s CHEEKS WERE RED WITH EXCITEMENT. HU T W HEN THE WORK WAS NEARLY FINISHED THERE WAS A LARGE HOLLOW AND THE MATERIAL WAS ALL GONE. THEN THE LITTLE ANGEL WAS OVERWHELMED WITH CONFUSION. HUT THE LORD TOOK HIM KINDLY BY THE HAND, AND THE LORD TOOK FROM THE FOLDS OF HIS MANTLE SOME OF THE STUFF OF WHICH PARADISE IS MADE AND HE FITTED IT INTO THE HOLE AND THE PLAC E W \S FARMINGTON. R.I. I 11. mm &0 'I i < 3^ vV C /5 fa O <4 H Z s w a is**1? < fefet f : h J< 8 1 J < 3 T 2 fa ?1 c 5$ w f'fc4 t * > .4 F O < f a THE I AMES LEWIS COWLES PLACE PHOTOGRAPHIC R EPRODUCTIONS, ILLUSTRATING i EVERY HOMEN I THE TOWN. PROMINENT P EOPLE PAST AND PRESENT, ALL OF THE SCHOOL CHILDREN, LOCAL ANTIQUES, ETC. FARMINGTON, C ONNECTICUT, 1 9 o6. F publishes b g Brtbur X. JBranoegee ano jEooe H. Smttb farmtngton, Conn. THE C ITY PRINTING COMPANY MAIN STRRET, HAR7FORIJ m ee. -J P Traversed f rom north to south by maples a nd willows that herald the trap ledges that broke through the soring, and acres and acres of sturdy sand stone millions of years ago, this flowers in the late summer that almost town lies along the side of the moun conceal the grazing cattle. tain, and below, the Farmington River Beyond i s Will Warren,s den and makes a great bend and flows off to The Pinnacle. Here is tillable land wards Avon to join the Connecticut. between the mountains, with the res The w ide flat meadows, chased over ervoir that looks like a lake among the by countless effects of cloud where the hills (Lake Wadsworth). Here also are Marsh Hawk sails silently along seek- the Peach Orchards. Diamond Glen. THE W ILLOWS." FHE T town of Farming- ton is as beautiful as some of its admirers believe, it must be largely because of its combination of river and mountain landscapes. Contrary to what many think the artist does not seek those places with panoramic effects; with snow clad mountains where there is PINNACLE M OUNTAIN. a single view, which may look like a ing i ts prey, are not one of the least and H ooker s Grove. map. But he loves better those vil parts of the beauties of Farmington. There i s a tradition that upon still lages like Farmington, where the coun There the sluggish Pequabuck flows, moonlight n ights the form of an Indian try is broken into many accdients and uncertain whether to move toward New may be seen passing down the moun corners that arc picturesque and beauti Haven or toward the north. Here the tainside at I looker's Grove with a deer ful. long meadows are filled with red thrown over his shoulder. But be ware do not speak to him. for no one may speak to him with impunity. This l ong chain of trap ledges, a part of the Green Mountains, is filled with flowers, with birds, with squirrels and with coons. It is the home of the partridge and of the woodcock, the Red Fyed Vireo and the Oven Bird. From t he mountains descend some of the most beautiful brooks in the world. Without particularly mentioning the Diamond Glen brook, there is the brook that flows through Rice's Woods. Every beauty that belongs to a little brook is there, from the brown pools where the trout live, to the broad gravelly stretches where everything is twinkling in the sun. Another beauti WADSWORTH,S L AKE. FARMINGTON, C ONNECTICUT, ful b rook is the one that rises below the Smith place. One may not see the stream at first for it is thickly fringed by a wonderful collection of white birch trees. At times a deer may be seen returning to these places after an interval of years. In fact there is little change in this brook since the Indians lived in their fort on Fort Lot over on the golf links of the Country Club. B. A G LANCE AT THE EARMINGTON LANDSCAPE "Such a t houghtful idea of Prov idence, to run rivers through all large cities," said the lady. If she has ever been in Farmington she would have considered the north and south plan equally felicitous. This arrangement brings effects of light and shadow at morning and evening hours that an east and west valley does not. It also al lows the summer south breeze full play through it — a satisfactory arrangement, as we all know, — while no such sweep is allowed the west winds of winter. What a beautiful, distinguished valley it is, hills and meadows and forests do ing just the right, restful thing. Beyond the warm gray, lichen-flecked post and rail fence, suggesting bars of musie, as the hilltop hay field and old fashioned apple orchard, sloping away to a pas ture where the cows in the summer SITEF O OLD INDIAN FORT. AT FORT LOT. hazes look almost like masses of wild flowers, their color is so soft and deli cate. Then come the steeper open fields gliding down to the main street, now hidden by the fine old trees. Here and there shows a bit of roof or old red barn, and charm of all, the most exqu1sitely proportioned church spire ever designed. Still further appear the delicious meadows, with the river and its offspring, the "Pequabue," winding about just as fancy takes them, as though delaying as long as possible the moment when they are to be swal lowed up by the swallower of all rivers. (I remember quite well the shock pro duced by suddenly realizing that it was not the same water which ran through my favorite brook year after year, and taking what comfort I could from the constancy of the banks and rocks.) The meadows are frequently dotted with white, again pink or red at sunset. Then begins the western slope through a wood, more pastures, and finally the dark wooded hills touching tlje sky in a line as beautiful and ele gant as a perfect arm, wrist and hand, far pleasanter for every day comrade ship than bold, arrogant outlines. May our valley be always preserved from the landscape "gardener," an un accountable mania that so many of us have for making nature suggest furni ture. — Farmington Magazine, Oct. 19o1. "WESTWARD"— R ESIDENCE OF MICS. EDWARD A. SMITH. Charles F oster. THE V ILLAGE OF BEAUTIFUL HOMES. 7 ©lil I ffluaea in iFarmtngtnn. BY J ULIUS GAY.* who h ad recently rid the colony of 6oo lagef o Tunxis Sepus, literally the vil or 7oo Pequots, and who brought the lage at the bend of the little river, be Court on the 15th of June following to came by legislative enactment the town order the Particular Court "to conclude of Farmington. the conditions for the planting of The s ettlers found the natural fea Tunxis." tures of the place much as we see them Five y ears thereafter, in 1645, the vil to-day. To the east of the main street PEQUABUCK B RIDGE. dHE N T winter of 1639, when it 9 the town of Hartford had been Bj |) founded three and one-half ^.rW years, and Windsor and Weth- ersfield about the same time, all three towns began to think their broad acres too limited, and applied to the General Court "for some enlarge ment of accommodation." A committee was appointed to view the valley of the Tunxis and report on the 2oth of Feb ruary, but Windsor was busy building a bridge and a meeting bouse, and their neighbors of Wethersfield objected to the wintry weather; so the Court added to the committee Capt. John Mason, their l ots extended to the mountain, and on the west to the river, beyond which fertile meadows spread away to the western hills, und1sfigured for more than one hundred years by divisional fences, a broad panorama of waving grain and green corn f1elds. The l and was indeed owned in sev eralty, but annually the proprietors voted on what day in October they would use it for pasturage, and on what day in April ajjonust remove their flocks and herds. Access to this common held was through the North Meadow Gate just west of the Catholic church, or through the South Meadow Gate near the Pe- quabuc stone bridge. Along tln man) street houses began to rise, log huts at f1rst, each provided by law with a ladder reaching to the ridge to be examined every six months by the chim ney-viewers. In 171 1 the town granted fourscore acres of land to encourage the erection of a saw-mill, but long before f*Part o an historieal address delivered at the annual meeting of the Village Library Company, May, 10(15.