, 1889-10-25
NAMES IN A YANKEE TOWN.
Plainly and Honestly Descriptive-Prett-
ness No Object.

Plainly and Honestly Descriptive-Prett-
ness No Object.
In the little and exceedingly rough
county town of Wolcott, which is only
six miles long and four wide, there are
tw~enty-eight localities which had espe-
cial names given to them by the ~colonists
who settled there, and which have chung
to them to this day. There were vol
umes in some of the names to the pio-
neer. The custom illustrates forcibly
the good Yankee habit of having a name
for everything and of giving everything
a name. The list runs like this:
RED Adder Meadow" where in for
mer days one of these serpents was kill
ed every year in haying time. Near this
meadow stands an old house, into which,
at milking time, while the family was
absent, a red adder crawled and bit a
young child that had been left alone.
The child was found dead with the SER
pent in its breast.
Jack Ledge" contains the cave where
Indian Jack lived with his squaw for
years. He refused to dwell in a house.
"Beaker Hill" said to be the spot
where the pioneers drank a beaker of
wine together, after viewing their new
found country.
Spindle Hill" where the broom and
basket stuff were cut, ak handles were
made and hickory ~spindles turned out
for the spinning wheels of Wolcott.
Clinton Hill" named after its first
settler, is the highest land in that part
Of Connecticut.
Chestnut Hill, " a ridge running north
and south, and smothered in old chest
nut trees.
"Bald Hill, A" on the summit of which
the soil is SO poor that there is no vegeta-
ton.
"Wolf Hill" which was riddled with
wolf holes. The colonists were 100 years
discriminating the pests that lived inside.
Tame Buck" a vale haunted by a
buck which became 80 tame that he
would come out in sight to eat.
"Woodtick." a settlement SO named
because in old times, when the wood
choppers laid down their clothing, it was
quickly infested with these pests. which
had to be cut out of a persons body to
be successfully got rid of.
MISERY Hollow" containing a well
nigh impossible muddy road.
"Cat Swamp" which has contained
wild cats from the time of the settle
ment of the place.
Hog Field Hill" where hogs used to
be allowed to roam and fatten.
Pudding Street." where, it is said,
the villagers, following the example of
their magistrate, Squire Epson, had
boiled Indian pudding every day in the
year.
plumb Street." which was settled by
more than twenty families Of Plumbs.
Cedar Swamp" is lined with cedars
and full of trout.
"Cuss Gutter Brook" is a stream that
runs through quicksands, where many q
horse and COW, it is said, have been
swallowed up.
Cream Pot" is the old name for a
very fertile farm in the center of the
town. 1t was named in this way: An
old gentleman from New York bought
it. One day while in Waterbury an old
gentleman joked him about the well
known poverty of the soil in Wolcott.
Eyes, yes" replied the old man, "most
of the land is poor, but 1 have got into
the cream pot"
fuckers Ring" is where an old In
dian of the name of Portuco constructed
a large ring in which he stalled deer.
"Honey Pot" a vale SO full of wild
flowers that it literally swarms with
honey bees in summer.
"Carter's Corner" where the Carriers
settled and lived for years. One of them
carried his tax list to the assessors made
out in this way, as may be seen at the
office of the town clerk:
Ihave a COW, her tail is lost,
Supposed to have been bitten by the frost;
Then add my poll, my tax is given
For eighteen hundred twenty-seven-
"Bottomless Well" a beautiful spring,
the depth of which has never been ascer-
tanned.
"Rose Hill, ;" which in summer is aflame
with wild roses. "Briar HILL" where
the t~ownspeople go a-berrying. "Cider
HILL" so called because it once teemed
with apple orchards and applejack was
made there. walnut HILL" where the
choicest of shell barks grow. ''Fiddler's
Pond" and "Bargytown, named for two
wild localities of the town, the applica-
ton of which no one knows.-Bridge-
port Comm Cor. New York Sun.