Norwich bulletin., 1922-11-02
COLCHESTER CONCRETE PIKE
 DESCRIBED BY MAGAZINE

ter, connecting New London and Hart ford, Is given an extended description, with illustrations, in the October num- Der of the Concrete Highway Magazin,. The article follows:
 The completion of New England's longest concrete road, the Nartford-New London turnpike, has opened up to the citizens of Connecticut as well as to vts- iting tourists a delightful country of unusual historic interest. As the mo- torist glides over the even concrete suc- face he passes landmarks with histor- ies extending back to the days before the Revolution and to the enjoyment of
 his drive over perfect highway is add ed the charm of a visit to a region inn New England.
 The Hartford-New London turnpike was first built in the year 1900 when wages were fixed at "66 cents for 10 hours and for each team equal to two yoke of middling oxen with a cart or blow, 66 cents for 10 hours in the spring and summer but at all other seasons of the year 34 cents." After more than a | hundred years of travel over the old ! highway of dirt and gravel with grades as steep as Is per cent, the state high way department entered into an agree
 ment with fthe federal government to rebuild the turnpike. The new road l shortened the time of travel between Hartford and New London, reduced all grades to a maximum of 10 per cent ! and provided an even, all weather sur l face of concrete. | Starting at the capitol in the city Of l Hartford, the motorfst proceeds to and
 across Connecticut Boulevard, turns | south to the town of Glastonbury and | then east for a distance of two miles
 to the beginning of the neW S3-miie l stretch of concrete road. The rise IS gradual for a distance Of about one | mile when the summit Of the first grade is reached. Here one should stop and climb up into the Crows Nest, from which, on 8 clear day, one can see Mt. | Tom and Mt. Monadnock in New Hamp- shire, 100 miles away. Nearer at hand,
 Hartford, Wethersfeld and the winding
 Connecticut river may be seen. Beyond | this point the road winds it's way ! through what is, known as Dark Hol-
 low, where deep cuts and high fills in- l dicate the work required to widen and
 straighten the highway. When the ori- ginal road was built in 1900, it was
 considered an engineering feat of con siderable magnitude to break a path wide enough for a carriage to travel in
 safety, Tarramuggus Lake, named after one of the chiefs of the Mohegan Ih- l QlanS, IS pdSS6u Just DSlOIS 1CAChtu& Marlborough Four Corners.
 The Tavern, now the summer home of Miss Mary Hall, is located at Marls borough Four Corners. Miss Hall is a prominent attorney of Hartford. The
 Tavern is more than 200 years old Presidents George Washington and An drew Jackson dtned there on more tllaT
 one. occasion. On the third floor is the Hold Guard Room where prisoners wert frequently kept Jack Hale, the pres ent superintendent of the grounds, wa!
 employed at the Tavern during the CivI
 war and can tell the LraVeler many in
 ttrestipg tales. Just beyond the top of the next hil lis the Congregational church built T
 1842 by Augustus Truesdale. After {
 succession of hills and dales, FaG1 Brook is passed and the top of Clark;
 Hill is reached over per cent. gradS . Ryan Villa is at the left This farm O , 1000 acres was purchased in 17o0 iron
 the Mohegans by M. Carrier, a Frencl soldier of fortune. John c. Ryan pur chased the property in 1873 and leu 7 1 to Mrs. Annie Ryan Gray who now live Z in the house, the rear part of wAic < was built as early as 1725.
 2 Entering Colchester, the motorist Wi . lnotiee a small house on the right un  : marked "1702,'' the year -1n which tn r Ihouse was built. While the shingle f and ciapboards are comparatively nev A the original beams and joists are stl a preserved. This house was built by Ns
 thaniel Fopte of Colchester, Englant . who received a grant from Wwanec' a a Sachem of the Mohegan Indians. Tn n town in Colchester was laid by Foote I the year 1898. The Congregationi
 | .-E1 ' Bacon academy, the gift of Pierpor IF writing, english, arithmetic, nathema :. ics and all branches of learning ft
 said inhabitants and such instruction
 1 to be free to the children of the town
 EndoWa1ents now amount to $100, ,0C
 besides building and equipment. \ I1847 Nathaniel Haywood, jointly vii e Goodyear, invented, yulcanized rubbe is and founded an industry which e, q banded from $100,eeo to an output of Se,000, 900. G IS From Colchester the concrete hisl al way winds in southeasterly directit -s through Salem and ends at present
 the town of Waterford. It will be (: ] tended by. the city of New London aY
 the state. highway department to wit
 in half mile of the Mohican hotel " New London The new highway lt 3yolved the removal of 11s,O74 cub r. yards of earth, 15.s5s cubic yards ot rock and the placing of 71,3eo cub nsl yards of portland cement concrete f ,n the road surface.
 ,ni The improvement of this highway h
 placed the Hartford-New London tur.
 pike among the most important hie
 ways in Connecticut for it shortens Il distance between New London al '6 TIa rtfapA R1v sf4niit nn miles and dnt, sh tails with. the main travelled highwa of of Rhode Island and Connecticut. 1T in improvement of this road with enduril i'd concrete will still further increase | attractiveness of a highway already ri n- in historic interest and now occupyil h. definite place in Connecticut's scher $. of highway transportation.