The Archives

Volume XLVI No. 1 - March 2018

Tavern on the Green Part I

By Mark Palmer

We sometimes look at local history as a collection of unique, seemingly unrelated events. Part of the challenge of interpreting local history is connecting the dots in order to draw a more detailed picture of the times. The Daniel Glazier Tavern, up and running in 1815, sits near the west end of the Congregational Meeting House Green (or Common). It was part of what had been known as the Moses Holmes farm and was adjacent to both the Tolland County Turnpike and the Mansfield and Windham Turnpike, today’s State Routes 74 and 320.

From our perspective, Glazier's tavern had an ideal location: a place near the center of town that could have been a stage stop on either turnpike route. In fact, after the Tolland County was created, the tavern could have been a stopping point on the road connecting the Tolland County Court House to the Boston Turnpike. The importance of the connection is suggested when this road was designated as one of the state Trunk Line routes. In 1905 the state took over the maintenance of state aid roads and by 1914 this route was one of the main roads through eastern Connecticut, connecting Hartford and Tolland to Putnam and Providence.

Norwich Turnpike

Frederick Wood, in his 1919 book, Turnpikes of New England, noted that stage stops were generally one to seven miles apart. The siting of these stage houses or taverns was probably determined by terrain and points of connection. The taverns could have been places to change or water the team of horses or perhaps drop off or pick up passengers. As a way of advertising the services, some stage routes and itineraries were published in the various regional almanacs published every year. Wood noted that stage routes occasionally deviated from turnpike roads and that stage roads were in use prior to the creation of turnpikes. In addition to these Public Houses, the occasional toll house would have been stops as well. One might wonder if toll houses also serviced stages.

Frederick Wood described the north-south route of the Windham and Mansfield Turnpike, chartered in 1800, as running from Norwich to Stafford. Wood noted a number of taverns on the way through Windham and Mansfield along Route 32 then Jerusalem Road to Windham Center and north on Route 195 through Mansfield. The last tavern mentioned in Mansfield is Samuel Thompson's before crossing the Boston Turnpike (Route 44) at Bardsley's Corner, present day Storrs Four Corners. In Willington records, the turnpike road was sometimes called the Norwich Turnpike or the Norwich and Stafford Road. The route today runs along Route 320, continuing to Stafford Common on Lohse Road and Stafford Street Extension.

Wood's only mention of Willington is that the Windham and Mansfield Turnpike passed through the center of town and continued to Stafford Meeting House. Wood does not mention a tavern in Willington. State Public Records note a toll house in Willington near Darius Caulkin's dwelling (he lived on his father’s farm) which the company in 1813 requested be moved to north of the Green. This was granted in 1814, however, the location of it as yet, is undetermined. An 1826 petition to the General Assembly from Willington opposed the addition of another toll house. According to Wood, mention of the Windham and Mansfield turnpike in state records ceases after 1828.

Tolland County Turnpike

Frederick Wood offers few details about the east-west Tolland County Turnpike, present day Route 74 (and in part, some of Wolcott's 1726 road). This turnpike was chartered in 1809. According to General Assembly records, the road initially was viewed as running from Hartford to the Tolland County Court House, through Willington to Ashford. In East Hartford the route today is along Tolland Street and continues through Manchester on Tolland Turnpike to Vernon where it becomes Hartford Turnpike. As with Wood's description of the Windham and Mansfield route, there is no mention of taverns in Willington. The Tolland County turnpike apparently wasn't profitable, the charter being revoked in 1834, according to Wood.

With the state focused on good roads to connect neighboring towns and distant cities, a question might be, what was happening locally before the new roads officially opened? Next, we’ll look at Willington Hill circa 1790.

Mark Palmer Historian,

Town of Willington