USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Connecticut > Part 8
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Jan. 1, 1879 Paid S. P. Sanford for Ties and Plank
1882 Plank 600 ft 2c per ft. $12.00
1883 Plank 38
Discontinuance of the Toll Roads
We have seen that the first toll road in Oxford was the "Oxford Turnpike", starting in 1795. It was followed by the "Ousatonic Turn- pike", in 1798, and the "Pine's Bridge Turnpike in 1824. The first to cease operation was the Pines Bridge pike, in 1836, and next to go was the Ousatonic pike in 1842. The Oxford pike was converted in 1852 into a plank road which discontinued as a toll road entirely "sometime between 1880 and 1887".
The only remaining toll road in this general district was the Derby- New Haven pike, which ceased operation in 1895.
State Highways
In the same year, 1895, the State Highway Department was organ- ized,
"Under the act of 1897 the procedure was as follows:
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The towns selected the highways to be improved, advertised for bids, let the contracts, and the work of the Department con- sisted chiefly of supervision.
The first recorded action of Town Meeting occurred Oct. 29, 1895 when it was voted "that we appropriate five hundred dollars from the town treasury for the improvements of the roads of said town as the selectmen and commissioners of the State dis- trict."
"In 1908, a Trunk Line System was laid out by the Commis- sioner, through routes being designated as Trunk Lines and their construction and maintenance were provided for by state appro- priations. But those roads which served merely to connect Trunk Line Roads or provide communication between the various communities were called State Aid Roads.
Oxford's First Hard Surfaced Roads
The first hard surfaced road (black top) constructed by the Town of Oxford was Barry Road (originally known as "Old Mill Road") from Quaker Farms Road to the Old Mill at Eight Mile Brook. This occurred about 1933. It was followed by Park Road, Maple Tree Hill Road and Christian Street.
On October 2, 1933, the Oxford Town Meeting voted to make appli- cation to the State Highway Commissioners for an allotment of $10,000, for "construction or improvements of roads or bridges in this town."
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR ALL ROADS TO BE ACCEPTED AND MAINTAINED BY THE TOWN OF OXFORD
ยท "1. Before work is started on any road, plans or blueprints must be presented to the Board of Selectmen for approval.
2. All roads shall have an established right of way of at least 50' with a travel portion of a width of at least 20'. No roads shall have grades greater than 10% unless approved by the Board of Selectmen.
3. The traveled portion shall be constructed with a surface of good clean gravel to a depth of at least 12" when completed, upon a sub-base compacted until the same is brought to a hard firm condition.
6. All roads shall be properly drained and sufficient culverts and catch basins installed.
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8. All slopes and areas adjacent to the pavement, to the full width of the right-of-way, shall be cleared of stones, stumps, brush and logs, and the same shall be left in a workmanlike manner. All trees in the right-of-way shall be removed, except as approved by the Selectmen. All over-hanging branches shall be trimmed to a 12' clearance above the finished surface of the road.
9. The owner shall furnish and erect street signs bearing the name of the streets as shown on the map. The signs shall be similar in quality and design, with metal posts, and shall be ap- proved by the Selectmen.
11. Before any construction is begun, the developer must post a bond subject to the approval of the Selectmen as to sufficiency and amount to cover the cost of building the roads, drainage and appurtenances. When water mains are to be installed the same shall be installed prior to the application of the surface of the roadway.
12. In general, Connecticut State Highway Department Speci- fications for roads and bridges (Current Form #807) shall be construed to govern these specifications.
13. All work must be completed within two years from the date of beginning construction."
THIS ORDINANCE PASSED AT THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING OF OCTOBER 1, 1956.
CHAPTER 13 ZOAR BRIDGE, PINES BRIDGE, AND STEVENSON BRIDGE
ZOAR BRIDGE
Before the formation of Zoar Lake on the Housatonic River, by the construction of the Stevenson Dam in 1918-1920, there was a bridge across the Housatonic River about 1 1/2 miles above the present dam. It was known as Zoar Bridge. Zoar was a small community on the west side of the Housatonic River, named presumably after the Old Testament locality of that name. At the east end of the bridge was the locality then known as Punkups.
The first bridge is said to have been built before 1800 and the bridge company incorporated and rates of toll established. It was known as the Ezekiel Curtiss Bridge. It was built with logs bolted to- gether for the sides, and was carried by an ice freshet in 1835.
In 1837, Elisha Hubbell built a big covered bridge. About 1840, two brothers, Webb and Beach Downs, from Monroe, owned a saw mill at Punkups and land on the west side of the river, and they conceived the idea of moving Zoar bridge down where it would be convenient for them to bring their logs over. They therefore took the bridge down and re-erected it about 1 1/8 miles further downstreams. They how- ever, had not thought it necessary to buy the stock of the old bridge company, with the result that when the Downs applied for a charter and toll rates, the old company opposed them on the ground that they were within a mile of the place where the old company was exclusively authorized by the legislature to collect toll. While the new site was actually 1 1/8 miles from the old one, the charter of the old company did not restrict them to an exact location, and they could, if they chose, build further south and this would prevent the proprietors of the Down's bridge from getting a permit to collect toll.
A charter for the Down's bridge was therefore refused, and the bridge was thrown open to the public for free use, without tolls. It was carried away by a flood Nov. 13, 1853.
In 1840, at the time of the removal of the bridge by the Downs brothers, the following notice appeared in the New Haven "Palladium" of Jan 9th:
"Zoar Bridge - Notice is hereby given, that a petition has been brought to the General Assembly to be holden at New Haven in May next (1840) for an act of incorporation, authorizing the
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Old Zoar Bridge, in an Ice Freshet. Old Post office and Store.
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Old Zoar Bridge, Looking across the Housatonic from Oxford towards Zoar.
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Petitioners, or such others as may be willing to associate, to build a bridge over the Ousatonic River, at or near the site of Zoar Bridge, lately taken down; with liberty to take such reasonable toll as may be established by the General Assembly. Dated at Monroe, the 28th day of February, 1840."
The new bridge was built immediately.
About 1842, Elisha Hubbell took Edwin Wooster in Company with him, keeping the store at the east end of the bridge and collecting tolls. They were succeeded in 1845 by William A. Bradley until April 1, 1848 when George Sharpe took the place and remained there six years. The store was on the north side at the east end of the bridge and on the south side was a house which was occupied by the bridge tender and his family. The bridge tender hired the bridge by the year, and collected the toll, his profit being in what he collected as tolls, over and above the yearly rental.
On Nov. 13, 1853, there was a great freshet which washed down the west end abutment "and one third of the bridge went off". It was re- built by Philo Smith. April 30, 1854, there was a freshet about two inches higher than the one in the preceding November, partially under- mining the west pier so that it settled down 18 inches.
Wm A. Bradley rented it again for three years, from Apr. 1, 1854 to Apr. 1, 1857.
In February 1857, an ice freshet carried off one pier and two thirds of the bridge, but it was rebuilt in the same year. In the spring of 1858, George Sharpe hired it again for three years. Charles Smith and others operated it until 1875, when it was carried off again by a freshet, and then the stock company decided not to rebuild.
All of these bridges, from the one built by Elisha Hubbell in 1837, appear to have been wooden, covered bridges.
Wm A. Clark of Monroe, the majority stock holder, was bought out in 1875 by Wm A. Bradley, who set out to have the towns of Oxford and Monroe rebuild, which they did in 1876. The new bridge was of the suspension type, of wrought iron, this type having been selected as it was less likely to be carried away in a freshet. Its cost was $13,225.78, the towns of Oxford and Monroe each paying one half of the expense.
Charles Gilbert rented it for three years to 1879, when it was transferred from the towns to the counties. The charter was then annulled by the Legislature, and the tolls were abolished. It was operated as a free bridge until 1918, when it was taken down because of the building of the Stevenson Dam, over which traffic has since flowed.
The Stevenson Dam on the Housatonic River and Zoar Lake.
The dam was erected, by the Connecticut Light and Power Com- pany, to provide water power for generating electricity by hydraulic
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turbines. It is located on the Housatonic River, the Oxford end being a short distance from the junction of Copper Mine and Freeman Roads, at "river-mile 19.3", and the reservoir is known as "Zoar Lake", be- ing named after the old settlement of Zoar on the Stevenson side of the river. This settlement, and the bridge which connected it with Oxford, were both inundated by the new reservoir. The reservoir has a drainage area of 1543 square miles. A highway is located on top of the dam and is called Stevenson Bridge.
The maximum base width of the dam (which is a concrete, gravity type structure) is 81 feet, and the maximum height to crest elevation is 122 feet; its length is 1213 feet. It backs up a pond having, at crest elevation, a length of approximately 10 miles.
The power-house is located at the Stevenson side of the dam and the latter has an output capability of 28,750 kilowatts. Four turbo- generators have been installed, three of 7000 each and one of 7750 K.W. The annual output during a year of average stream flow is 97,650,000 Kilowatt hours, which is said to meet the annual electrical require- ments of the town of Oxford, as it is now constituted, for twenty years.
Work started on the project during the summer of 1917, and the first unit was put into operation Nov. 24, 1919. In 1958, two additional gates were installed at the north (Oxford) end of the dam, in order to increase its spillway capacity, in times of flood; the construction of the Shepaug Dam, further up-stream, necessitating the coordination of the spillway capacity of this and the Stevenson Dam.
It is said that when the Stevenson Dam was first projected, the Power Company planned to put the power house at the Oxford end of the dam, but the Town of Oxford objected to this, so the location was changed to the Stevenson end.
PINE'S BRIDGE
It will be noted that the name is not "Pine Bridge," but "Pine's Bridge", indicating that it was named after someone named "Pine". At a Town Meeting held Oct. 2, 1843, it is recorded that "the report of the committee on the Clark Pine's Bridge fund for 1843 be read and accepted." This would seem to mean that the bridge was named after a man by the name of Clark Pine.
Just when it was built is not exactly on record. It is known how - ever, that the Pine's Bridge Turnpike Co. was incorporated in 1824, showing that the Bridge was in use at that date. And at a town meet- ing held Jan. 7, 1799, it was voted "that the selectmen be a committee and view the Place for a Bridge across Naugatuck River at Rimmon and make a report." As Pine's Bridge is directly opposite Rock Rimmon, the reference is undoubtedly to Pine's Bridge.
The Oxford Turnpike Company had been incorporated in 1795, and
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the Southbury-Oxford Turnpike, turned off Route 67 at Seymour, going north over Rimmon Hill and crossed the Naugatuck at Rock Rimmon.
Just what the reference is to "the Clark Pine's Bridge Fund" in 1843, is not entirely clear; but it may be that Oxford had built the bridge or that it had bought the bridge from the Oxford Turnpike Com- pany. As we have already stated, the Pine's Bridge Turnpike Co. had ceased operation in 1836, and the road from Oxford to Seymour had been improved and the Derby-New Haven Turnpike built, thus giving a practically level road from Oxford to New Haven. So probably the old turnpike route to Pine's Bridge had been abandoned by 1843, and the town had to take over the bridge.
In 1871, the town of Beacon Falls was incorporated out of parts of Bethany, Oxford, Naugatuck, and Seymour, including Pine's Bridge.
CHAPTER 14
OCEAN BORNE COMMERCE
After the settlers had established themselves in Oxford, clearing their lands and building roads over a period of some seventy years, from about 1680 to 1750, they began to have crops and live stock over and above the needs of their own families, and found an outlet for the surplus in water-borne commerce with Boston, New York and other colonies and with the West Indies, through the port of Derby. That town, being at the head of navigation on the Housatonic was consider- ably nearer to Oxford, Woodbury, Newtown etc. than Bridgeport or New Haven. It was important to have a port as far inland as possible, because transportation by water was much cheaper and quicker than overland haulage on the unspeakably bad roads that existed before the building of the turnpikes, which did not start until 1792.
One of the chief influences on the commercial prosperity was the end of the so-called "French and Indian War", sometimes known as the "Seven Years War", although it actually lasted from 1754 to 1763. The issue was the mastery of the Ohio Valley, either by the English or the French. At first, the war went badly for the English, with Braddock's defeat in Pennsylvania in July of 1755. But by 1758, things had turned in favor of the English with the capture of Louisburg on Cape Breton in Canada and of Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg), and then with the victory of General Wolfe at Quebec on September 12, 1759. France had now had enough and signed a treaty of peace with the English.
In the meantime, English fleets had seized the West Indies, with their rich sugar trade. The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 finished the threat of raids by the combined French and Indians.
From then on the commercial prosperity of Derby rose rapidly. That town had an indirect trade with England through the other colonies and the West Indies. To the Leeward and the Windward Islands of the Caribbean Sea, they sent live stock and provisions, and brought back the products of these islands, such as sugar, wines, fruits, and manufactured goods of France, Spain, and Holland. "Grain of all kinds, pork, butter and cheese came to Derby from Woodbury, Waterbury, New Milford and towns around in great abundance." Per- sons living in 1880 had seen the old road (now called Derby Ave.) lined and crowded with loaded teams by the hundred, waiting their turn to deliver their goods for shipping. Imports were correspond- ingly large, hogsheads of rum, brandies, sugar and molasses were
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brought into the port of Derby and carried into the interior. "This trade was carried on in vessels of eighty to one hundred tons which were built in shipyards at Derby Landing, where the first ship building was conducted by Thomas Wheeler about 1657. The launching of a vessel was always a great curiosity and people came from miles around to see launching day, with colors flying, a great holiday. Com- merce through Derby declined during the Revolution, but picked up af- ter England acknowledged the independence of the Colonies, and reached its culmination about the year 1800.
By about 1807, Derby's commerce began to decline. "There were seemingly three causes for this; the first was the fierce war between England and the French under Napoleon, the second was the fact that the farmers in this region, in their eagerness to make a profit, sent off the products of their soil without sufficiently compensating the ground for the loss of its fertilizing elements, so that finally their soil became exhausted and their crops failed. The third cause was the in- creasing competition of Derby as a port, on the part of New Haven and Bridgeport. New Haven contrived and executed the plan to tap the Derby traffic by cutting a road south of Woodbridge Hills to Derby, (the Derby Pike) and by offering the facilities of a harbor unobstructed by ice in winter. New Haven was willing also to accept a lesser rate of profit, and the wagons from Oxford, Woodbury etc. continued on through and past Derby to New Haven.
"Bridgeport constructed the Bridgeport and Newtown turnpike in 1801, (Route 25) which immediately drew off Derby's previous trade from Newtown, Brookfield, New Milford and adjacent places. Bridgeport harbor, being ice free, the millers of the above men- tioned places, frequently having pressing orders, paid cash for grain instead of barter, and the regularity of the Bridgeport mar- ket boats gave a better sale for the farm products at New York, than when shipped from Derby. Also the roads to Bridgeport were less sandy than those to Derby, and so better adapted to loaded wagons. Many a day no less than a hundred wagons were counted passing over the Bridgeport-Newtown turnpike to empty their cargoes at Bridgeport instead of going as formerly to Derby."
Finally, in 1806, Napoleon Bonaparte issued the "Berlin Decree" in which he charged England with violating the law of nations, with mak- ing prisoners of non-combatants, with seizing private property, with blockading unfortified towns and mouths of rivers, whole coasts and empires. He declared that till she mended her ways, the whole coast of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales was in a state of Blockade. All trade with the British islands was forbidden. No vessel which had so much as touched at an English port was to be suffered to enter any port or colony of France.
The decree was directed against all neutral trade. But the only neutral trade was that carried on in American vessels.
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"From the beginning of colonization in America, down to the French and Indian War, the colonizing powers of Europe had but one rule for colonial trade. By this rule, the mother country and the mother country alone, could traffic with her colonies. Neither England, France, Holland, Portugal nor Spain would suffer goods to be carried to their colonies under a foreign flag nor under their own flag on account of a foreign importer. Nor would they suffer the produce of their colonies to be carried in foreign ships to foreign countries unless the ship first touched at the parent state."
"By 1807, conditions had become so bad that Jefferson told Congress that Napoleon was determined to enforce the Berlin Decree and that the whole world would be laid under interdict by both England and France, and asked, if our ships, our sailors and our goods were to be seized the moment they left our harbor, was it not better to keep them at home. In a word, he proposed an embargo, and on Dec. 22, 1807, an embargo unlimited as to time, was in force."
As at that time, the chief business of the inhabitants of Oxford was the raising of produce and live-stock for the foreign and coastal trade, through the ports of Derby and New Haven, this embargo hit the town very hard, and the months between the commencement of the embargo in December 1807 to the autumn of 1808 must surely have been a period of "hard times".
But the Town of Oxford, small though it was, refused to take these hardships "lying down", and on Sept. 19, 1808 it passed the following resolution in Town Meeting:
"Sep. 19, 1808 Voted to Petition the president of the United States to recommend the repeal of the Imbargo Law to the next session of Congress.
Voted that the Inhabitants of the town of Oxford do Disapprove of the Laws Laying an Embargo upon the commerce of the United States, and that it is their wish that all proper measures may be taken for the purpose of having said Laws repealed.
Voted that the selectmen of the town be directed to prepare and present a petition to the President of the United States in the name of the Inhabitants of the Town of Oxford praying him to recommend a total repeal of the Laws laying the embargo to the next Session of Congress provided that the Generality of the Towns in this State prefer similar petitions.
Voted that the selectmen send a copy of said petition to the next Congress directed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President of the Senate of the United States"
So ocean borne commerce for Oxford soon came to an end, and its people began to turn their attention to the creation of local industries.
CHAPTER 15
GRIST MILLS AND SAW MILLS
The earliest mills in Oxford operated by water power were probably grist mills, followed closely by saw mills. Often both saw mills and grist mills were located on the same mill pond.
The earliest actual record of such mills in the general vicinity was the building of a grist mill in Woodbury, probably in 1674, on Quarter Mile Brook. Before this date, grain had to be pounded out to flour in mortars by a pestle, - a slow and tiresome process, and so in that year they sent a man back to Stratford on horseback who procured there two small mill stones, so small in fact that the man brought them to Woodbury through the forests slung across his horse's back.
While these could only grind one bushel of grain a day, it was a vast improvement over the hand process, and great was the rejoicing when the mill started up. Then, sometime prior to 1683, a combined saw and grist mill was built on the Pomperaug River. There do not seem to be any records of grist or saw mills in Oxford quite so early as those in Woodbury, and such records as there are do not tell when the mills were erected.
THE MILLS ON EIGHT-MILE BROOK
At this location, on the north side of Barry Road in Quaker's Farm, there were, apparently, two mills, namely a grist mill on the east bank of the brook, and a saw mill on the west bank. The grist mill disappeared long ago, there being no trace of the building when a search was made for it in 1946. Mr. R. Z. Hawkins stated that it was on the east bank and that some one had purchased the mill stones from him and removed them.
The photograph (taken about 1895) shown here is of the saw mill on the west side of the brook, and shows the Lewis Wooster house in the distance. Seated in the carriage just across the bridge are Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hawkins whose house was at the northwest corner of Bowers Hill Road and Good Hill Road. In the foreground are Mr. Lewis Wooster and his two boys, Raymond and Noyes Wooster.
Until the building of the present concrete bridge in 1957-1958, a considerable portion of the old dam remained. The mill pond was perhaps the largest of any in Oxford. It will be noticed now, that from
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Dam and Mill Pond on 8 Mile Brook at Barry Rd. Just before Building Concrete Bridge.
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Saw Mill on 8 Mile Brook at Barry Road.
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the present bridge looking southward, one sees that the brook has two channels, separated by a narrow island. Originally the dividing strip of land ran all the way to the dam, and there were two small bridges, one over the main brook (the west channel) and the other over the east channel, which was the "spillway", and obviously dug by men, as it is perfectly straight.
At some later time, the "spillway" was filled in, thus doing away with the eastern bridge. This left but one channel which was not suf- ficient to handle flood water and hence Barry Road was often flooded. The new and much longer concrete bridge (built by State aid), spans both channels.
There seems to be no record of the actual date when the mill and dam were built. About 1700, Dr. Butler had come into this general neighborhood, Abraham Wooster in 1722 and Zachariah Hawkins about 1743. Wooster built his own mill at his farm on Good Hill Road, so it seems unlikely that he would have built another mill so close by.
It may have been built by Zachariah Hawkins, who was a very en- terprising man, but no actual records have been found of his having done so.
The earliest mention of the property in the Derby Land records are said to be the following:
1. In 1771 Capt. Zachariah Hawkins property is mentioned as boundary for che mill land.
2. In 1776 Alex Oviet Jr. and Penelope Oviet deeded the mill to Elisha Wooster.
So, all that is known of the old mill is that it was built prior to 1771, possibly as early as 1750.
Elisha Wooster apparently sold the property to B. Burwell (or Burrel) for the latter sold it to Capt. Isaac Tomlinson; a house, barns, mill and 14 acres. Capt. Tomlinson gave it to David Tomlinson who in turn sold it to Charles and Samuel Woodin. On Jan. 7, 1797 they sold to Hiram Johnson "2 acres and dwelling and grist mill formerly owned by D. Tomlinson"
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