Connecticut

CT A photo of a CT Pearl Harbor survivor license plate - very rare, CT

CT Albino squirrels, Shelton,CT

CT Chinese built steam locomotive ( one of two in this country) Essex, CT (moved to Rochester,NY)

CT Essex Town Landing Essex, Connecticut British Raid, April 1814 More Info

CT Gallows Hill Cemetery on route 7 in Brookfield/New Milford, CT - dates to the 1700's and is where hangings took place - can only be seen in one direction - you have to figure that out.

CT Holy Land USA, Waterbury, CT

CT German mini sub, Italian 2 man sub, Japanese Kamikaze sub, all in Groton, CT at
the sub base (free admission) - can park you bikes right in front of the
subs. CT

CT McDonalds shaped like a space shuttle, Called McBrad on I 75 near Windsor Locks, CT

CT The Trash Museum which is constructed completely of recycled trash. They even play a game of "Where's Waldo" but it's "Where's the Rat" and the kids try to find a rubber rat among the rubbish. Hartford, CT

CT The UNITED HOUSEWRECKING. It's kind of a mixture of a sore and a weird museum.. Ever wanted to see a 20 foot Paul Bunyan? They have one. How about a row of Yankee stadium seats? A 10 foot lobster? How about a suit of armor, new York city street lights, your own English telephone booth. Springfield, CT

CT The World's Largest Dairy Store, but both the original store (in Norwalk CT, on US 1, less than 1/2 mile east of CT 53) and the newer location (in Danbury CT, on Federal Rd., near Exit 7 of I-84)

East Hartford - Huguenot House - Haunted by a woman dressed in blue after the building was moved.

New London - Ledge Lighthouse - haunted by a lighthouse keeper that committed suicide there.

Old Mystic - Red Brook Inn - moving cold spots and voices are the symptoms here.

Easton - Union Cemetery - Haunted by the ghost of a young woman known by locals as the "White Lady" no one knows of her past yet. She has been seen by Firemen and Police Officers on different occasions. It's one of the most haunted places in the country. The Warrens have done extensive research of the area.

East Windsor - Pasco's restaurant - movement of objects, closing doors, cold spots, etc.

Seymour - Carousel Gardens - haunted by a woman who used to live there. It was a mansion converted into a restaurant in the mid 60's. Now the story is, that she lived there with her brother for many years, but they rarely spoke, and they say, for this reason, she haunts this place.

Suffield - Kent mansion - The abandoned mansion has been seen with lights on and with shadows in the windows. Even in the carriage house.

Burlington - Green Lady Cemetary, Covey Road - Images of green mist and the "Green Lady" formerly Elisabeth who died next to the cemetary in swampland-she drown and supposedly her husband would not or could not save her. She is seen walking on the dirt road the cemetary is located on in a green mist.

Cornwall - Dudley Town - A deserted town that is said to have gone mad and died off, located in Cornwall, CT. After a long walk through the woods the path opens up to reveal old foundations and cellar holes from a lifetime ago. Here it is said that glowing orbs of light can be seen swirling around, and on occasion have even occurred during the day. There are many reports of odd happenings occurring to those that visit Dudley Town.

Stepney - Stepney Cemetary - ghost photos have been taken there for quite some time.

Simsbury - Chart House - Its an old restaurant that has the spirit of a woman, who is described as friendly, residing there. The employees like to tell stories about her, she does stuff like shut off lights if they've been left on, closing doors at closing time, that kind of thing.

Brooklyn - Old Trinity Church - Photos of ghosts. Cults. Strange happenings. Three ghosts of young ladies have been sited there. There have been reported sightings, of "things" both human-like, and "other".

Shelton - Indian Wells State Park - Supposedly haunted by "white lady". Some say she
was killed there on her wedding day, hence, the "white lady" title. Others insist she is one of several children/young people killed by a train while playing cards on the train tracks during the '30s'

Bristol - Church of Eternal Light - Formerly one of the three original churches built in Bristol by the Sessions family, church was built late 1800 to early 1900, (not sure of date). has been on national T.V. show , a ghost hunter filmed ghost balls or spirit balls. There are also reports of a former church goer who was struck by lightning on the front steps. There have also been reports of an apparition seen in the bell tower.

Lampson Corner (sp?) - Route 69 - An area between burlington and bristol CT. on rte 69, as the story goes the village was whiped out by small pox. People who have gone up there say they have seen strange apparitions.

New Haven -Albertus Magnus College
Several of the mansions converted to dorms are said to be haunted. One of them is haunted by a woman in a green dress and a small boy around the age of 8-10. The boy tends to be looking for a playmate, for when alive he was often locked in the attic. He moves objects, changes the orientation of other objects, and stands in the hallway watching you.

Newtown-Cyrenius H. Booth Library
The only public library in Newtown on Main Street is haunted by Mary Hawley, the daughter of Booth, whom the library was named after. The building used to be her home, and her room is on the top floor, which they used to let people view, but have locked since they put an addition on. Experiences ranged from feelings to shadowy figures in the corner of one's sight to actual encounters with what is supposedly Mary's ghost. Nothing has been said about her since the addition was put on, but then again, no one has been in her room either.

Monroe- Union Cemetery-
There have been many sightings of different ghosts at different times. The most common sighting is of a lady in white with a white glow around her, who walks the cemetery around midnight. Many people have seen her. She appears to be looking for the grave of a loved one, but when she is approached, she slowly vanishes.

Wallingford-Whirlwind Road-
Lady in White back in the 1930's a woman was left at the alter on her wedding day. She was so depressed that she drowned herself. Motorists have seen her on the side of the road totally soaked and asking for a ride but when their backs would be turned she'd disappear .a few police officers have seen the woman

Bethel -Bethel High School-
There have been sightings of apparitions on the second floor and in the basement. Cold Spots have been experienced in the basement also. There have been numerous suicides associated with the school. At one point the school was called Suicide High

New London-The Lighthouse Inn-
Various haunted rooms, and two ghostly Victorian women who roam the hallways at night.

Stratford Booth Memorial Park
A large area of negative energy is known to be haunted by a man who can be seen if photographed in a large white house in the top window.

New Haven- Fort Nathan Hale-
Along the beach where a battle took place, there are under ground bunkers. They are blocked off with gates, but inside the bunkers there have been sightings of glowing green orbs. Along the beach and the outside of the bunkers ghostly figures of soldiers have also been seen.

Easton-Union cemetery-
"Redeyes" is also a well-known haunt. As the stories go, a man was walking along a road next to union cemetery when he noticed a pair of red eyes staring at him through the darkness. Upon this observation, he turned and ran and heard footsteps following him.

Voluntown-
The grave of a girl named "Maud" is located along this road. When riding in a car and her name is uttered by her gravesite, the car is supposed to either stall or crash. Orbs have also been seen by observers. Also, a man running through the woods at the same speed of the car was seen by a passenger in my vehicle.

Bara-Hack Settlement-Pomfret-
The ruins of the settlement that later grew into Pomfret, along with the old cemetery used by the small settlement, hide in the CT woods but hold many surprises for those who take the time to find them. Reports include human voices, animal sounds, children’s' laughter, sightings of a baby reclining in the branches of a tree, and orbs of light.

Places to find in Newtown

My son gave be a book with the town history of Newtown, found out that the
Hawleyville section of town was the busiest with 150+ trains going through
on a daily basis. With that in mind, I researched each picture and
accompanying story. There are a minimum of 5 1 room school houses that are
still around, might not look like them today, but they are there. There's a
complete RR wooden water tower that resembles the old Lionel water tower
from when I was a kid - try the Botsford section of town.

There's the remnants of the last 'horn' button factory (buttons made from
animals horns), with the sluice gate to power the factory. If anyone has
access to the history of the town, there's a lot of neat stuff. One of the
largest National Guard maneuvers ever held, was held here in town back in
1912. The red army vs. the blue army, pictures of planes doing recon work -
the one thing I've learned, is that most of New England didn't have much in
the way of forests in the late 1800's or early 1900's - the trees were cut
and used for ship building or firing the many iron ore pits in the
Berkshire's. There are more trees today in New England than 1900, and
that's with development.

If anyone is going to try and find the RAT sites I've located, try the house
next to the volunteer ambulance garage, the 2 story house was once a 1 room
school house. Find the Jewish synagogue in town, and the private residence
across the street was once a 1 room school house. Find
the intersection of Currituck Road and Obtuse Road and guess what, another 1
room school house. Those are just 3 of the easy ones.

I figure I can find close to 20 RAT points without leaving the town I live
in, and I never knew.

Art Hechler
Newtown, CT

Back To Newtown

On April 6-8, 1814, the British executed a Green Beret-style raid on the
Town of Essex, Conn., about seven miles up the Connecticut River from
Long Island Sound. They rowed upriver at night against wind and tide and
arrived at Essex at about 3 a.m., surprising the occupants and holding
them at bay with Marines. They then made an agreement with the Americans
that they would not burn the town if they were allowed to capture and
destroy to some 27 ships which had been pirating along the coast.
The next day they set out downriver towing two of the ships but were
turned back by musket fire from the riverbank at a narrows (about where
I95 crosses now). The contingent rowed upstream out of range, put the
captive ships to the torch, and waited until dark when they drifted back
down undercover of night and fog. All but three of the 150 or so in the
raiding party escaped to the safety of the British warships...which
could not sail up the river because of tricky sandbars.

The Austin F. Williams House and Carriagehouse are significant for their association with the Underground Railroad and the celebrated Amistad affair of 1839-1841. Oral tradition indicates that Austin F. Williams (1805-1885), a leading abolitionist of the day who devoted much of his life to the cause, was an Underground Railroad conductor and, along with other citizens, made the Farmington community a major Underground Railroad stop. After the Civil War, Williams was appointed director of the Freedman's Bureau of New England and New York and found housing and job opportunities for freed African Americans. However, it was the Amistad affair that brought national attention to Williams' abolitionist activities. In June of 1839, 53 members of the Mende tribe from present-day Sierra Leone who had been illegally captured and transported to Cuba, were sold to two Spanish planters in Havana. The slaves were loaded onto the ship Amistad which set sail for Puerto Principe, another Cuban port. Four days out of Havana, the Mende, led by Sengbe Pieh (renamed Joseph Cinque by his Spanish captors), took control of the vessel and ordered the ship to sail to America. During the siege the Mende killed the ship's captain and cook, and by the time Amistad anchored off the tip of Long Island on August 24, 1839, 10 of the Mende had died from disease or wounds sustained in the takeover. Brought into custody by the United States Navy, the Mende were imprisoned in New Haven, Connecticut, and charged with piracy and murder. A defense committee, including Austin Williams and headed by Lewis Tappan of the American Missionary Society, was formed and hired the Honorable Roger Sherman Baldwin and former President of the United States John Quincy Adams to represent the Mende. The Supreme Court ruled that the Mende had been held illegally by force and that the siege and murder of the captain and cook had happened in self-defense. The Mende were ordered free on March 9, 1841.

Upon their release, the Mende were taken in by members of their defense committee, including Austin Williams. Williams constructed a building on his property in which the male members of the group lived. This building is today the east section of the carriagehouse--the west section was added on after the Mende had returned to their homeland. The men worked in local agricultural fields and the women worked as domestics in the private Farmington homes in which they lived. Required by the defense committee to attend the First Congregational Church, the Mende also were taken to different parts of New England and asked to perform at various fundraising events. With the money raised at these events, the defense committee hoped to establish a Christian missionary in Africa and pay for the Mende's transportation back to their homeland. Within a few months, it became clear that the Mende were eager to return home and felt somewhat exploited by these fundraising events. On November 27, 1841, they set sail for West Africa along with several missionaries and arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone in January of 1842.

The Austin F. Williams House is located in Farmington, Connecticut. A private residence, it is not open to the public.

Connecticut

Back To US RAT Sites RAT Sites Home Weird Museums The Underground Railroad Haunted Places