Nothing, however, became of the proposed Goodwin Park Extension. Nor,
until 1938, did the town begin to acquire, mostly by foreclosure, the
land in that area – including 30.2 acres from Charles Woodward.
The
land purchases continued up to 1964, one year after it officially
received its current name. The majority of these properties were a part
of the proposed Franklin Avenue Gardens development. I traced one of
the parcels of land back to February 5th, 1887, at which time it was
inherited by Felicia Wells as two tracts – one from John Hanmer (the
“Homestead”) and another from Hannah Hanmer (“Andrus Pasture”). I
suspect that further investigation would discover more instances of
these and other surnames that are woven into the history of our town.
1938
March 9: Seven Lots acquired by Wethersfield
July 9: Twenty-five Lots acquired by Wethersfield
1945
June 30: Thirty-six Lots acquired by Wethersfield
July 30: Two Lots acquired by Wethersfield
Charles Woodward sells 30.32 acres to Wethersfield
1952
July 16: Two Lots acquired by Wethersfield
August 25: Two Lots acquired by Wethersfield
1958
October 27: One Lot acquired by Wethersfield
1959
January 21: Two Lots acquired by Wethersfield
1961
November 10: Three vacant land parcels acquired by town and incorporated into the park
December 16: One more vacant land parcel incorporated into park
1962
February 26: One vacant land parcel taken over by Wethersfield and included into the park
1964
October 9: Two Lots acquired by Wethersfield
In
addition the Pine Acres Club, which opened in April of 1958, purchased
its ten acres of property in 1957. I was not able to find any other
formal plans for the woods until the “Report on Planning – 1960”, a.k.a.
“The Allen Report”, presented to the Park and Recreation Board in July
1961.
Go the next chapter
Return to the Wethersfield Historical Society home page.
