A Connecticut Road Trip | Route 169

ROAD SIGNS, ROUTE 169

If you, like me, occasionally open the Twitter app and scroll a bit before becoming despondent at the state of the world and quickly opening Instagram to stare at photos of kittens instead, you may have become dimly aware of a recent WalletHub article titled 2015's Best and Worst States for Summer Road Trips.

The piece, which enjoyed a flurry of  re-tweets and was cited in a bunch of local news reports, ranks US states from 1 to 50 for their supposed road-trip-ability. It is hilarious, as you might expect from travel advice dispensed by a personal finance writer. But the part that particularly amused me was the (entirely expected and entirely inaccurate) assertion that of all the 50 states, Connecticut is the worst for exploring by car.

To refute that silly claim (not that it needs to be refuted), I thought I'd write a little post about one of my favorite Connecticut drives, Route 169. This National Scenic Byway is only 32 miles long, but it winds through some of the prettiest of the state's countryside - an area the Federal Highway Administration calls "one of the last unspoiled areas in the northeastern United States."

As you travel from Lisbon to Woodstock, you will see: centuries-old stone walls crossing green fields that rise and dip like waves; Colonial-era houses and red barns; time-worn headstones in historic cemeteries; horses grazing behind wooden fences; agricultural fairgrounds; antique stores filled with tempting odds and ends; farms and farm stands offering fresh eggs, honey, vegetables, fruit, flowers, and maple syrup; small towns barely changed from when they were settled in the 17th century, except for the addition of cute coffee shops and highly acclaimed restaurants; local museums, historical societies, and carefully preserved buildings; and, of course, that two-lane road, stretching out ahead of you like an invitation.

You can see much more than that, of course; it only depends on how much time you have. Plus, there's no rule that says you have to stay on 169. Turn off on any of the other numbered routes you encounter, and you'll find even more sights to make you LOL at the idea that anyone thinks Connecticut is not road-trip worthy.

AMERICANA, ROUTE 169

SCRANTON'S SHOPS, WOODSTOCK

TYPICAL QUIET CORNER VIEW, POMFRET

CEMETERY, LISBON

ROAD SIGN, CANTERBURY

SILO, POMFRET

OLD GAS STATION, BROOKLYN

LAPSLEY ORCHARDS, POMFRET

ANTIQUE STORE, BROOKLYN

ROADSIDE FLOWERS, POMFRET

COW, WOODSTOCK (THERE ARE REAL COWS TO BE SEEN TOO)

GRANGE HALL, WOODSTOCK

ROAD SIGN, WOODSTOCK

OLD POST OFFICE, WOODSTOCK

If you want more about Route 169, here are some additional resources:

A map of the route from byways.org.

A partial list of attractions from Mystic Country.

An itinerary (fall foliage themed) from ctvisit.com. 

A recommendation from Yankee Magazine.

Some history from kurumi.com. 

And here are some earlier Size of Connecticut posts about just a fraction of what you can see and do along the way:

Historic Synagogue, Lisbon.

Prudence Crandall Museum, Canterbury.

Town Center, Brooklyn.

Putnam Elms and Old Trinity Church, Brooklyn.

Pomfret Station, Pomfret.

Abington Social Library, Pomfret.

Three historic libraries, Woodstock.

Roseland Cottage, Woodstock.

Mrs. Bridge's Pantry, Woodstock.

One-room schoolhouse, Woodstock.

Woodstock Fair, Woodstock.

If you want to add something else on to a drive on Route 169, consider these two former mill towns: Norwich, at the southern end, has museums, parks, and an eclectic city feel, and Putnam, at the northern end, has shopping, dining, and a classic small-town atmosphere.

Putnam Elms & Old Trinity Church

On Church Street in Brooklyn, you will find Old Trinity Church.

In the cemetery behind the building, old graves stand in rows and even older trees grow wherever they like.

Old Trinity Church was built by Godfrey Malbone, Jr., son of Rhode Island Anglican and merchant/slave trader Godfrey Malbone, Sr., whose Newport house has its own Wikipedia entry complete with a funny anecdote about dining with George Washington. The elder Malbone left his 3,240 acres in Brooklyn, which was then still part of Pomfret, to his two sons.

Godfrey Malbone Sr. is buried under his church pew in Newport. Godfrey Malbone Jr. was perhaps less intense about religion; he constructed Old Trinity Church in 1771 primarily to avoid paying his share of taxes to fund a new Congregational church in Brooklyn. Under the laws of the time, if he could build an Anglican church before the Congregationalist meetinghouse was completed, Malbone's money could go towards his own church instead.

Confused? Me too.

The headstones in the cemetery read like an encyclopedia of Connecticut places and names. Many of the names are tied to Brooklyn and to Church Street, like Malbone, unsurprisingly, and Putnam.  (I'll get to the Putnams in a minute.)

Some say Old Trinity Church is haunted by apparitions and writings scrawled in blood.

Perhaps not, but the area is rural-quiet, the churchyard gate is cobwebbed and rusted, and tiny bright green caterpillars dangle impertinently from the leaves, as if no one has ever disturbed them.

This was once Connecticut's second largest slave plantation.

It was Godfrey Malbone, Jr. who, in 1791, sold some land and a house down the road from the church to Daniel Putnam, son of General Israel Putnam. That house became the estate known as Putnam Elms.

Set back from the street and up a gentle slope, the house manages to be magazine-perfect while also looking like many houses of different styles chopped up and nailed together.

Which it is. The structure expanded as the family grew. Daniel Putnam and his wife Catharine had eight children in the house; later a son-in-law and his family, then that son-in-law's son and his family, moved in, and new sections were built as time went on.

The Putnams and Malbones could have been the Brooklyn version of the Hatfields and McCoys. Israel Putnam had supported the tax that spurred Godfrey Malbone, Jr. into building his church, not to mention that Putnam was a Revolutionary War hero and Malbone a Loyalist. But the families intermarried and lived together and alongside each other, entirely peacefully it seems.

Putnam Elms was owned - and almost continually lived in - by family members until 1938. Since then it has been maintained by the nonprofit Colonel Daniel Putnam Association.

It is open to the public on certain days, for tours and events.

But if you prefer solitude and quiet, then go when it's closed. Wander the grounds like a time-traveling trespasser, and learn the place's history from the stone walls and trees.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

In Brooklyn, this what law offices look like. Oh, sure, I bet they have a few slightly more contemporary-looking examples around somewhere, but I'm just going to pretend this is the only one. Remember the sheriff's office in Windham? This is the Law to that wee building's Order.

And this is the Old Brooklyn Meeting House, built in 1771, now a church.

This is the library. Built partly in 1821 as a bank, partly in 1826 as an insurance office.

And this is Town Hall. It used to be a courthouse. It stands at the center of a little intersection that would be confusing if there were ever any other cars.

But Brooklyn can't be entirely adorable, of course. At one time this area was terrorized by marauding wolves. They were, presumably, a bit more menacing in appearance than their representations on the sarcophagus of General Israel Putnam. Putnam, who famously instructed his men "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" at Bunker Hill, is also famous locally for having killed Connecticut's last wolf in a den in what is now Mashamoquet Brook State Park in Pomfret.

There are other statues of Putnam in Hartford's Bushnell Park and Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, but I particularly like the way this one looks out watchfully over Route 169, as if Putnam is making sure that more wolves (or the British) don't try to sneak past. Of course, at this point, if they did it would only be because they'd heard about how cute Brooklyn is.

(By the way, I just read somewhere that you should not name blog posts after songs. Oops.)