People & Place & Community: Hidden Valley Back To Bethany, Past, Present

Winter.

“History says, don't hope on this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme.” — Seamus Heaney

Choose your words. Make a life. Shape a community, build and grow a business. Connect, communicate. One life sparks another. Grow. Help, encourage. Be there.


Stay vigilant. Vaccinations and viruses, humanity and all species are constantly evolving, growing or expiring. But what a marvelous time to be alive, modern medical miracles possible. Repair hip, knees. Sight, technologies for assistance. Injured, not extinguished. Physical therapy, reach out for help. Keep going. Stay aware and read. May we all emerge in the spring of 2023, renewed in many ways.

Moment in time. “Banks and Evergreen, Charter Oak Park, West Hartford. Frank G. Warner, photographer. A man drives a bicycle-wheel sulky drawn by two horses along a dirt track. A reviewing stand or grandstand is visible in the far distance. Inscribed on image: “Banks & Evergreen. Time 1:49 3/4 / Hartford, Conn. Aug. 29 '89.” Charter Oak Park was located on Prospect Avenue in West Hartford, just across the Hartford line.” Connecticut Images Collection; image is linked to official site. Record Content Source University of Connecticut Libraries.

Here's a roundup of happenings: Past, present, future memories intermingles. For this life and work, thank you.

“Humans arrived in the Connecticut River Valley 12 million years ago and the landscape began to change. Changes accelerated over time as people harvested the valley’s natural resources to meet the needs of the altering population. Indian practices for horticulture and managing game, European trade in furs, English settlement of towns, and the demands of trade all transformed the Valley landscape well before the turn of the nineteenth century. The pace and scale of environmental decline slid out of control. Dams, canals, cities, industries and even industrial pollution were viewed as signs of economic progress. Today, gains made during the environmental movements of the 20th century are threatened by climate change and governmental abatement of previous efforts.”

Holyoke Mills by Bob Sweeney. Oil on canvas, 2017, Connecticut River Museum.

The Connecticut River Museum is located on the Essex waterfront at 67 Main St. For more information about a visit www.ctrivermuseum.org; CRM 29th Annual Holiday Train Show, ongoing (be sure to check holiday hours/closings) through Feb. 19, 2023.

Snowy evenings and remembering people who have passed. (Yes, Phyllis; I remember that snowy pasture in Goshen, Virginia and the winter with you and Lorney. Love.) Celebrate their lives amid those here now.

Time to see the work of train artist Steve Cryan's fully operational model train layout. The current exhibit at Connecticut River Museum in Essex (with amazing views of the long tidal Connecticut River) runs through Feb. 14, 2021.

Detail of the CRM train display, linked to Facebook page for the museum.

In order to maintain safe distancing, safety protocols include masks are required at all times, as well as timed, ticketed admission for all guests, including members. Admission groups hold a maximum of 12 guests for 30-minute intervals.

On the way to Essex: Higganum. Machimoodus across the river. Place names are clues to history. (Why is this not taught in school and combined with field trips? For it is travel and curiosity that provokes more questioning of everything. Collections in libraries, archives, historical societies.) It was only when walking the state to revise a book of short nature walks that place names and local lore surfaced.

Weetamoo. A sachem. (Have been thinking about this name and context since finding/reading because of a one-word reply via Twitter.) For example, The Encyclopedia of Connecticut: A Volume of Encyclopedia of the United States lists the following Native American groups (Indians) found in Connecticut: Nipmunks. Sequin or ‘River Indians' which included the following tribes: Tunxis. Poquonnuc. Podunk. Wangunk. Machimoodus. Hammonasset. Quinnipiac. Matabesec or Wappinger Confederacy which included the following tribes: Pootatuck. Weawaug. Unocwa. Siwanoy. Pequot-Mohegan. … Paugussetts, (Golden Hill) … Pequots, (Mashantucket) the most numerous, the most warlike, the fiercest and the bravest of all the aboriginal clans of Connecticut. Found from the Niantic River, west … along the hills of New London County to a point 10 miles east of the Paucatuc River, and North 10 to 12 miles from Long Island Sound … Podunks, “river tribe” …. Schaghticoke, located in West-Central, Litchfield County, near present-day Kent … ” – excerpt from Tribes in Connecticut. CT State Library.

A still image detail from the train walk video in a series produced by Friends of Gillette Castle State Park via YouTube.

Also, walks are great ways to relieve stress. Back to trains and what began as writing about technologies, place names, history along the Hartford Line. Images streaming of an enraged mob storming the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of a Presidential election in the midst of a pandemic. Life unfolding in real time, spurred and inflamed by words. Attacks on police, reporters, media. Those who took quick action to protect others. The clean up.

From the river.

Just look at that engineering. Wm. Gillette train bridge (p. 105), once visible from the Connecticut River. Imagine a river tour w/holographic projection of this now-vanished span, train (Gillette at the controls) speeding by. And show how it was built. As seen from the Connecticut River.

Then, also on social media, crowdsourced efforts to identify people seeking violence and those who willingly did damage, all research aided by images and video captures posted. Life goes on.

Into the stacks. Archives. Dutch Point? Another day. Higganum and the train depot? Ah, distractions. Bookmark. Not today. Focus.

History of Meriden train station, people, place and time. Linked to New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Line Program gallery.

From a description about the history of rail: “As part of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) Line Program, historic exhibits have been installed in several stations along the corridor. The rail line is situated along a Corridor Historic District that is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The purpose of the exhibits is to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the historic significance of the NHHS rail line and about the architectural and engineering importance of certain stations and other rail line elements that contribute to its historic significance.

“Exhibits feature details central to the development of rail in the Connecticut Valley, and use both text and images to present the historical information. Examples include the History of the Hartford Line, Women in Rail during WWII, and African American Workers on the New Haven Line. The installation of these historic panels allow passengers to learn about the history of rail in the state while they wait for their train.

“Installation of the exhibits fulfills a requirement of an agreement (Programmatic Agreement) among the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Connecticut and Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Offices and CTDOT, regarding compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act as it pertains to the NHHS HighSpeed Intercity Passenger Rail Project.”


Editor's note: For other resources and useful information, see our Resource page. Will return with part two of Manchester Historical Society tour, horses and history, entrepreneurs, markets, business resources, reviews, wanderings (love to go and find out more), more about trains, transportation, and learning about our own backyards to global connections. Thank you one and all for sharing your stories and ideas. An honor to be trusted with telling your stories, sharing your lives. And about back to Bethany? That's an update and another story.

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