Litchfield enquirer., 1852-03-04
L1TCHFIELD COUNTY

LIICHFlELD COUNTY
 The last number of the Nsao E,sgzand. e contains an extended notice of the Litch6e'd County Jubilee, and of tie published proceedings of the same. The following is an extract from the article:
 The county of Litchfield is one of the most interesting parts of Connecticut.- Its scenery. its soil. it's productions, are all peculiar. The influence of the natu. ral peculla'fties has been st,ikingly nani- fested in tho character of it's population. This county, unlike most portions of New Eng land. mas had a character of it's own. and it furnishes the materials for a sepa. rate and peculiar history. The traveller, who. starting from the valley of the Con- nect'cut' takes his way westward. after ascending the basaltic range that fir st meets his eye, lsok across the Farming. ton valley before hino. and descries in the distance series of hills lying in nearly parallel lines, one rising above the other, as far as the eye can trace them. The general direction of these hills is northeast and southwest, though cross valleys divide them, made on the east by the Pennington river and it's branch. es /; and father yves. by the tributaries of the Housatonic and their branches, If the !raveler follows either ol these val- leys westward, he will find himself. sooner than he is aware, surrounded by "brubt and lofty hills, and the midst of rough and broken country or, if he, boldly breasts tine hipsa after crossing the sandy ridge that bounds the Far. mington valley on the west, he encoun~ sers the granite ridges that give charac, ter to the suEface, the soil and the seenc- ry of the greater part of Litchfeld coun- ty. Fhese ridges as we have already said run iH general in southweslerly di- rection and are separated by valleys more or less defined, into some of which you descend to moderate depression, while into others. as these of the Nau- gatuck and the Shepaag, ysu are tnm- bled down into deep and gloomy gulfs, overhung by precipices of granite and shaded by masses of henlock forest. On, the highest of these ridges, and nearly in the centre of the county from. east to, west, are situated the towns of Goshen, and Litchfeld. These ridges to the southward decline into somewh hat gentler. slopes. Northward they are expanded inte elevated plateaus or table lands. The, tops and the sides of some of them are, rough and rocky, tasking the strength and the wits of the labOrer, while those of Oth-, srs are beautifully smooth, furnishing sur face inviting to the mower and the plough man. The soil is tenacious and moist, and the climate cold. so that the whole region is marked by nature as adapted to grazing and those annual crope which are appro- Priate to grazing district. The valleys ant sunny slopes yield good and tolera- bio certain returns when planted with IDdi> an corn, but the great staple of the hik country is grass.
 As you pass over these ridges. you are suddenly arrested by the deep and narrow valley of the Housatonic, which cuis it's winding course eight hundred feet below the hill tops ot the county, and is lined on either side by mountain ridges and mountain peaks. As you descend into this valley and thread your way northward or south ward. you are surprised tUf find that it's mar. row limits include lower hillocks and ca sy slopes that creep up the granite mountain on either side, of a formation almost un- known in Connecticut. Their rounded tops oftenbared of soil down to the rock: reveal the limestone beneath, while the lux uriant growth of wheat and maize shows that an unusual and stimulating material is present ia the dry and at first sight un. prmising foam that constitutes the soil.- this lime rock formation occurs everywhere in the valleys ihat are crowded by the Overshadowing mountains, or diminished to scaniy ribbon of rock as the great ran. ges that attend upon the Housatonic push themselves into the brawling stream. Aa the valley is expanded al New Milford. in new direction Dortheastwafd the lime> stone range thrnss itself along tlie Aspetuek in the town of Washington, whero ii piles itself into those abrupt and broken ridges winch have been quarried for many ears for marble. In Canaas. al the northern extremity of the county. the same formation has yielded for generations much of the ilIne tor tho eastern part of Connecricut.-- hut after reaching the valley of the Housa- tonic. you have stili another ridge to climb or to thread. before you gain the western limit of the State, and pass over into that region which was once tho dread of all good fedsTalists and lovers of the steady habits of COnnecticut-the region where common schools were not sustained and sabbath travsling was not forbidden ty law. AS you gain the summit of this ridge. lhers are points from which prospects of unriyaled bea Uty. reveal the luxuriant valleye and hills Of Duchess county. which extend westward to the Caiskills, ever looming up> wards with their dark and peculiar bl1e.- ln the west side of this ridge lies the limestone that streeh0s ilseIf onward tO