A Branch to Woodstock

From the place where the people go to catch salmon, a branch that leads to a ford way across the Willimantic River on a road from Woodstock to Hartford noted in John Chandler's map of 1705.

The layout of the roads has been altered in this area with the building of two Turnpikes in the early 1800s to construction of the Wilber Cross Turnpike in the late 1930s and more recently Interstate I84.

Traces of some of the earlier ways can be found in the 1934 Aerial Survey of Connecticut and the 1940s USGS topographical map series. The USGS topographical map series from the 1890s contains less reliable information regarding the earlier as-traveled routes. The advent of turnpikes combined with a transition from cottage industry to centralized mills altered road use at the local level in some cases, lessening the importance of some roads. Earlier county maps also omit information but are very useful for contextual information.

The branch to the right is a remnant of a way that joins the route to a ford way over the Willimantic River that leads to a route up the Roaring Brook valley to Moose Meadow.