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Wethersfield Historical Society

Wethersfield Historical Society

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A Birds-eye View of Wethersfield’s History

Home » Articles From The Community » A Birds-eye View of Wethersfield’s History

The following set of maps were created by Phil Lohman, artist and Wethersfield resident. These birds-eye views are intended to depict, in fifty year increments, the development of Wethersfield and to highlight some noteworthy events.  Please click on the illustration for a larger view.

The maps and accompanying text were originally published in the Town of Wethersfield’s 2013 “Plan of Conservation and Development”, and were on display at the Wethersfield Public Library.

1634: The first illustration shows how the area we now know as Wethersfield might
have been settled around 1634.  The first settlers are thought to have wintered on the west side of the river.  A Wongunk settlement is nearby. Note the different configuration of the Connecticut River at that time.

 

1634.jpg

1684: This illustration shows how Wethersfield might have been settled around 1684.  The river has changed course. A witch trial might have been going on at the meetinghouse. The mid 1600s were a time for “witch hysteria”.  Four witch trials and three executions for witchcraft occurred in Wethersfield.


1684.jpg

1734: The next illustration shows how Wethersfield might have been settled around 1734.  Note the configuration of the Connecticut River and the farm fields surrounding the growing village area. Note also the homesteads in outlying areas.

1734.jpg

1784: This illustration shows how Wethersfield might have been settled around 1784.  In 1781, General George Washington met in Wethersfield with Count Rochambeau of France to coordinate their activities for the decisive battle of Yorktown.

1784.jpg

1834: The next illustration depicts how Wethersfield might have been settled around 1834.  Many of the fields are devoted to seed production in addition to subsistence farming.  Ice was harvested from the Cove in the winter.

1834.jpg

1884: This illustration shows Wethersfield as it might have been settled around 1884. The first telegraph and phone lines are being installed and the horsedrawn trolley service connecting Wethersfield to Hartford begins to set the stage for Wethersfield to become a “suburban” community.

1884.jpg

1934: The next illustration shows how Wethersfield was settled around 1934. Speculative subdivisons are occurring on old farmsteads.  The Silas Deane Highway has been constructed and there are a number of houses built adjacent to the trolley lines (Hartford Avenue and Wolcott Hill Road).

1934.jpg

1984: This illustration shows Wethersfield as it was settled around 1984. The embankment built as part of the construction of interstate 91 now confines the Connecticut River so its course is more certain.  Earth excavated for the embankment created the large “cove” at Crow Point. The embankment also seperated Wethersfeild fro the Connecticut River. Development along the Silas Deane Highway is essentially complete and there are numerous houses in the surrouning areas. Subdivisions have spread far afield from the historic settlement area.

1984.jpg

2034: This illustration is a fictional map created by Phil Lohman as a projection of his ideal Wethersfield future.

2034 FINAL (Copy).jpg

About the Author: Phil Lohman

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Articles from the Community

  • Articles from the Community
    • 284 Brimfield Road
    • A Birds-eye View of Wethersfield's History
    • A Boyhood Visit to G. Fox & Company
    • A Brief History of Wethersfield United Methodist Church
    • A History of Franklin Avenue
    • A History of Temple Beth Torah
    • A Life of William Beadle
    • A Shepard and his Flock: Counting Chairs and Tracking Down Apprentices at the Wethersfield Historical Society
    • A Whaling Family
    • About the Authors
    • Black History in Wethersfield
    • Childhood Memories of the Wethersfield Homefront
    • Colonel John Chester
    • Connecticut at War: 1634 – 1781
    • Connecticut's Black Governors
    • Connecticut's Witch Trials
    • Dividend
    • Fairway 6
    • Foodways
    • Francesco A. Lentini – Three-Legged Wonder
    • Frank and Lou
    • George Whitefield – The Billy Graham of Colonial America
    • Governor Thomas Welles
    • Griswoldville Connecticut (1680-1987)
    • History of Public Libraries in Wethersfield
    • History of the Church of the Incarnation
    • History of Trinity Parish (Episcopal)
    • History of Wethersfield Library
    • Horribles Parade
    • Horseradish King
    • Houses of Worship
    • Irish Immigrants in Wethersfield 1860 to 1900: Outcasts to Neighbors
    • Issacson's Field Plane Crash
    • Jared Butler Standish
    • Meet Mr. Wethersfield: Alfred W. Hanmer
    • Mill Woods Park: A History
    • One Branch of the Josiah Willard Family of Wethersfield
    • Rediscovering Benjamin Lee Whorf
    • Religion in Glastonbury: the Congregationalists
    • Reverend and Colonel Elisha Williams
    • Rocky Hill: A History
    • Sgt. Maj. Robert H. Kellogg
    • Slavery and Wethersfield
    • Sophia Woodhouse's Grass Bonnets
    • Still Fighting Fires After All These Years
    • Table of Contents
    • The "Conference State"
    • The Blue Violet
    • The Chesters of Blaby Leicestershire England
    • The Contentious Life of James Wakelee
    • The Eel-Catcher’s Travels: Robert Seeley 1602-1667
    • The First Church of Christ
    • The Undoing of Silas Deane
    • The Welles Family and the Establishment of Newington
    • The Wethersfield Elms
    • The Wethersfield Meteorites
    • The Woman Came To Do Laundry
    • They Even Survived Rocks on the Track
    • Thomas Hickey: George Washington's Wethersfield Kidnapper
    • Town's Biggest Fire
    • Twentieth-Century Wethersfield
    • Wethersfield Almshouse 1843-44
    • Wethersfield Enters the Revolution
    • Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church
    • Wethersfield Illinois
    • Wethersfield in the Civil War by Wes Christensen
    • Wethersfield Prison Blues
    • Wethersfield Street Life 1634-1995
    • Wethersfield Summers
    • Wethersfield: A History
    • Wethersfield: The Cradle of American Seed Companies
    • Wethersfield's "Other" Plane Accidents
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1634 – 1900
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1900 – 1930
    • Wethersfield's Homebuilders: 1940s and Beyond
    • Wethersfield's Top 10 Natural Disasters
    • Wethersfield’s Dinosaur Footprints
    • Wethersfield's Glorious Baseball History
    • Who was Charles Wright?
    • William W. Anderson Veteran of the Allied Invasion of Normandy June 6
    • Wintergreen Woods: A History
Wethersfield Historical Society Wethersfield Historical Society
150 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT 06109
p. (860) 529-7656 f. (860) 563-2609
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