COVID-19 Era: Here, Then Gone. Monica’s Home. Old Mill. Staddle Hill.

Editor's note: A portion of this story has been revised and moved. Here.

Time.

Monica's home in 2018, marks made on beams overhead; Middletown, Connecticut.

Questions, curiosity. Was this the former home of the mill owner when the “old mill” that once stood on Washington Street was built, in use? (The mill's “bones” were carefully dismantled by Kronenberger & Sons Restoration of Connecticut; it was a privilege to be allowed on the top floor to see and photograph the machining equipment still there when the roof was removed. See more about the structure here.)

From 2006, when the old mill was being carefully taken apart.

Unharnessed, the Coginchaug River keeps flowing past what is now a busy Aldi's and CVS site, paved for parking. More questions raised than answered, but glad an oak swivel chair by the roadside prompted a stop because it led to a tour of a home now being demolished (Sept. 2021).

From the outside, almost gone. As seen from West Street, Middletown, Connecticut; view south over the new bridge that spans the railroad tracks. Heading to Wilbert Snow School, the Long Hill estate, Wadsworth Mansion.

Map detail (1874). F. W. Beers & Co. Look over the roads, open spaces, names.

The Amistad is in Hartford for September.

“The Amistad Trial began in Connecticut’s Old Statehouse in 1839. The trials were held here for two months before a change of venue brought the trial to New Haven, CT.” https://www.nps.gov/subjects/travelamistad/index.htm


Where many cultures meet. Stanton-Davis House. Image from walk SLT, 2018.

The river is calling. Onrust on the Connecticut River as seen through the museum window. CB/MDP


Also on the Connecticut River at Essex, the Onrust (seasonal). For information on group tours and educational programs, call Connecticut River Museum (Essex is a great destination for a day or weekend) at (860) 767-8269. To see more about history and the building of this vessel, check out a recent video by Smithsonian Magazine.