Wethersfield Historical Society

The "Recreational Facilities" portion of the Wethersfield Connecticut official town website describes Wintergreen Woods as "110.0 acres containing open space...

Continue reading Chapter 1 - It All Began with Ice

Fast-forward to the 1600's and the founding of Wethersfield. Seventeenth century maps of the town referred to the land that...

Continue reading Chapter 2 - The "Four-Fold" Division

In 1928 the Wethersfield Town Plan Commission hired Herbert S. Swan, City Planner, New York to prepare a "Plan of...

Continue reading Chapter 3 - Parks and Parkways

Nothing, however, became of the proposed Goodwin Park Extension. Nor, until 1938, did the town begin to acquire, mostly by...

Continue reading Chapter 4 - Buy Now - Plan Later

A memo prepared by the Town Engineer on December 5, 1952 entitled "Park Acreage in Wethersfield lists "Standish Park, Soldier's...

Continue reading Chapter 5 - Folly Brook Land

In December 1961 the Committee on the Preservation of Old Wethersfield formally asked the Town Council to "give the Folly...

Continue reading Chapter 6 - A.K.A.

In 1963 the first nature camp was held in the newly named woodland park. "Sponsored by the Department of Recreation...

Continue reading Chapter 7 - Into The Woods

In July 1971 a group led by Mrs. Elizabeth Dodge met with the Advisory Recreation and Park Board to "discuss...

Continue reading Chapter 8 - The Boston to Washington Megalopolis

In August 1972 the Recreation and Parks Department hired Siah St. Clair as the town's first park naturalist. "St. Clair...

Continue reading Chapter 9 - Snake Eggs and Environmental Appreciation

The temporary nature center was officially opened in the Stillman School with an open house on April 19, 20 and...

Continue reading Chapter 10 - Educational and Interesting all The Same

"Their goal [is to raise money for] a nature center building with garage, home for a naturalist to go along...

Continue reading Chapter 11 - Quilts and Motorcycles

During this time the Friends of the Nature Center continued to lobby for the construction of that facility, and more...

Continue reading Chapter 12 - Better Stewards

The history of Wintergreen Woods has pretty much paralleled the history of Wethersfield.  For the first three hundred years, as...

Continue reading Chapter 13 - Postscript

Endnotes:I Wikopedia.comII A Natural Resources Inventory of Wintergreen WoodsIII Stiles, Ancient History of WethersfieldIV ibidV Plan of a Residence Suburb,...

Continue reading Endnotes & Bibliography

1640First map of Wethersfield labels Wintergreen Woods area as "The Great West Field", "Tappin's Hill" (Topping) and Wilderness1680Idealized map by...

Continue reading Wintergreen Woods Timeline

Jim Meehan and his wife Marsha joined the Wethersfield Historical Society in 2006 after retiring from careers in Information Technology...

Continue reading About the Author: Jim Meehan