The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1889-02-15
FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 1889.
"Let Us Look Back Into ruturity.n

This quotation, from the words of an ora
tor that In other days astonished audiences in
the little church at Pleasant Vale by lectures
ON psychology, Is used In the heading for this
little historical sketch, because by the past, TO
low me TO say that am writing partly in an.
s s, to query In the BEE, "but why not call
Tradition says that the red men left this val
ley TO our ancestors with the euphonions name
OF Punkups and, for many years, 1t knew no
other. Later on, localities were called Cotton
Hollow and Ragged Corner. Later still, To
accommodate the people of Xoar and others,
bridge was erected and called Zoar Bridge,
The combined toll house and store seemed
suitable for o post office and one was estab
nshed and, Punlxups and Ragged Corner being
ignored and the post Office designated Zoai
Bridge. Some years later, n church was erect.
noted locality ON account of the quantity OF
gin sold at the store, the good Christians
sought another name and again leaving out oil
consideration, apparently, the time honored
ones, they called the place Pleasant Vale.
Time passed on until, unlucldly, the store
Keeper g9t TO using 80 mneh OF ms gin tnat ne
and the supplying Office was informed from
Washington that unless some one could be
make out quarterly return, the Office would
be discontinued. This came TO the ears ofthe
proprietor of n fiourishinR boarding school
SHOWN as the Pleasant Vale boarding school
for boys and he volunteered to accommodate
the neighhors, II the name OF the ONCE were
changed To Pleasant Vale and this was done.
But now arose another difficulty. Away up IN
Litchheld county there had been for years a
post office called Pleasant Valley and the
postal clerks complained to the department
that IL made them cross-eycd to distinguish
between that and. Pleasant Vale. Again the
post Office department demanded IA change
and, rs the proprietor of the school was sell
ing out and new postmaster must be mp
pointed, with the new postmaster came the
name Riverside, Things went swimmingly
for a while, but the time came when the post
master and school teacher tired of both.
There seemed no way but that the post Office
must be discontinued or go back to the store.
As the change would result in less frequent
waits, the parties who wanted mail next de,
little what name wassadopted: Punkups and
Ragged Corner were practically by-gone
names; but there were still some left whose
happiest hours had been spent at the store OF
an evening or on the way there with little
black bottle and these hailed with delight q
chance to go back to the name ofZoar Bridge.
The resigning postmaster could easily have
prevented n change, but n thriving little place
on the Sound had just then sprung up whose
inhabitants wanted post ofiice with the
name of Riverside and, In consideration of II
valuable sum In dollars paid by these people,
he ignominiously hold his peace and back we
went to Zoar Bridge. And now, why not call
station on the new railroad Zoar Bridge2
Well, In the first place, for the same reason
that when villages, now grown up 10 bor-
ouRhs, ut either end of Huntington bridge
sprung up, neither was called Huntington
Bridge" There were more suitable names,
than two thirds of those whose friends, when
they visit them, will leave the cars at the new
station prefer another name. Lastly, because
those to whom the memory of the store Mt
Zoar Bridge was so dear are mostly buried
In the little church yard where neither new
names nor the rumbling of railroad trains viii
jar upon their ears and there Is no reason
why. with tho advantages that Nature has
given us and the facilities that the enterprise
OF others has bestowed upon MS, we should
not under n new and approprite name become
moro prosperous than we were even in the
days when there was hourishing cotton min
In PunlSups. or, later, equally hourishlng
distillery in Ragged Corner-[Crusoe.