This morning, in a walk organized by the Jonah Center forEarth and Art, about 30 brave, sure-footed souls visited a series of historic
Middletown dams, guided by Professor Elise Springer of Wesleyan
University. The tour included the large Russell
Mill Dam (pictured here, near the Hartford Courant Building on East Main Street)
and Middletown’s first dam (also pictured, just upstream from where Pameacha
Creek crosses Mill Street), built by Thomas Miller to power a grist mill in the
1650s.
Many of those who took part in the tour commented on how hidden
from view the local waterways are, and how visiting them reconnects us with
Middletown’s geography and history.
To receive information about future walks and other programs
of the Jonah Center, visit http://www.thejonahcenter.org/mailform.php
and send us a message.
3 comments:
For a bit more information about the historic water-power dams in Middletown, visit http://espringer.web.wesleyan.edu/06457dams/
Thanks for the link to all the photos and historical information.
The Middletown tour of the dams were great. I remember as a child of 9 The Russell Co., in the late 40s and 50s. The floors in most of the buildings had a extremely strong smell of creosote. The clothes you wore would smell creosote if you remained in them. I remember the sound of the water over the dam behind a building my father was in charge of.
I remember the South District Fire Trucks housed across from and diagnal from the main entrance of Russell Co
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