Virtual Road Trip - US Route 1 - Part 7

Unsurprisingly New London takes it's name from London, England, who'd have thought that! We arrive over the Gold Star Memorial Bridge that spans the Thames River, just like in the origin London. The bridge commemorates fallen veterans from both World Wars and the Korean War.

New London is a destination port for cruise ships, as well as a ferry port for crossings to Long Island. On a darker side, New London was the site of the execution of the US's youngest criminal. Hannah Ocuish, a native American 12 year old, was hung for the murder of 6 year old Eunice Bolles, daughter of a wealthy farmer. Although the case has been reviewed in 2023, and there is some speculation that she may not have been guilty.

There is a little confusion over the etymology of Waterford, Wikipedia's own article has two different origins. Firstly it states that the town was named after Waterford in Ireland, but further down the article it states "Waterford got its name for its proximity to being in between two rivers".

Waterford was famous for it's granite industry up until the 1930's. Granite from the area was used in the foundations of the Statue of Liberty. There is a part of town known as Graniteville that is named after the industry.

Route 1 continues through what is still obviously New England, the leaves on the trees are vibrant colours of red, yellow and orange, we all know it can be a beautiful place in the autumn, sorry Fall. The below images of part of Route 1 on the outskirts of Waterford show the difference a few months makes...

We enter East Lyme over a small nondescript bridge over the Niantic River, that gives it's name to one of the two villages that make up East Lyme, Niantic and Flanders. Flanders gets it's name from the area of Belgium, not the character in the Simpsons. Niantic was the name of the indigenous tribes that lived in the area prior to the European settlements. Niantic is the more popular village due to a large influx of tourists during the summer months, there being beaches, sport fishing and marinas.

Flanders had several travellers taverns that hosted dignitaries such as George Washington back in the day, however many were demolished during the construction of I-95 that passes through the town. Thomas Lee House is till standing and dates back to around 1660, consequently it is the oldest still surviving house in Connecticut.

One of East Lyme's more infamous sons is William Colepaugh, although you may not have heard of him. He defected to Nazi Germany in 1944 and was trained as a spy, being dropped back into the US by submarine. Upon arrival, Colepaugh and his companion, German spy Erich Gimpel, spent a month partying with the money given to them by Germany. Colepaugh then decided to give himself up to the FBI, believing he would not be arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1945, but this was changed to life imprisonment. He was released in 1960 and spent the rest of his days in Pennsylvania.

Route 1 runs through rural woodlands until we come to...

Near to Old Lyme are the towns of East Lyme, see above, and Lyme. They are all named after the town of Lyme Regis in England. Old Lyme is a coastal town with beaches, much like it's British counterpart.

Just through the trees, at the side of Route 1, is Roger's Lake, renowned locally for the legend of Roger. Roger is the name given to a creature not dissimilar to Nessie, the legendary occupent of Loch Ness in Scotland. Local folklore tells of a plesiosaur-type creature that has had over 200 sightings since it's first documented occurrence in 1878. Native American tribes referred to the creature as Caca-togo.

Route 1 only just touches the main part of Old Lyme, we miss out on the main part where Albert Einstein, yeah, him with the big tongue and something to do with science, had a summer home. We rejoin I-95 for a short distance, just across the bridge over the Connecticut River.

This is the exit after the bridge, before we head back to Route 1, just what is this truck driver thinking? Now I admit, I don't drive a car hauler, but why would you have a car hanging over the back when there is no need to? The driver would have secured the car in that position, why not just move it up a few feet, then if someone runs into the back, at least the customers car isn't damaged. Or is it just me? And looking at how close the rear is to the road, I doubt anyone behind can see his taillights. Amateurs!

Dutch settlers set up a factory in what is now Old Saybrook, this was way back in 1624, although it was abandoned shortly after in favour of the new settlement known as New Amsterdam. Whatever happened to that place I wonder?

Katherine Hepburn lived in Saybrook and the local theatre is now called the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

It's good to see that the Google car isn't speeding, but 19 in a 35, that's got to be a bit slow surely?

Westbrook was incorporated in 1840, prior to this it was known as Pochoug and then West Saybrook, and was part of Old Saybrook.

The inventor of the submarine lived in Westbrook, David Bushnell is credited with inventing the first submarine used in battle. Called the "Turtle", due to how it looked in the water, it saw combat during the Revolutionary War. He is also credited with inventing a floating mine that exploded on contact.

That's about it for Westbrook, a typical sleepy place in "Smalltown America".

Clinton was originally part of the town of Killingworth which still lies to the north. Clinton became an incorporated town in 1838, as the local population began to grow.

The town doesn't take it's name from the former President Bill Clinton, or even Hilary, but it does come from the name of New York Governor, DeWitt Clinton. He was responsible for overseeing the building of the Erie Canal.

Despite Clinton being known as the "Bluefish Capital of the World" and there being an annual festival, I couldn't find any evidence of it on Route 1, or the fact that the legendary Dr. Seuss, you know, the guy that wrote The Cat in the Hat books, used to spend his summers in Clinton.

Madison prior to incorporation in 1826, was known as East Guilford. It is named after the 4th President, James Madison.

There isn't a lot about Madison online, but amongst the famous people associated with the area is a Russian Spy (Elizabeth Bentley), an inventor of America's first gasoline powered car (Frank Duryea), and the keyboard player from Blondie (Jimmy Destri). A likely trio that would make any dinner party a riot!

After travelling through the rural suburbs of Madison we enter the town proper, where Route 1 becomes a through road with shops on either side, and that uniquely American parking system where everyone has to reverse out of a space into the oncoming traffic. i don't think it is actually unique to the USA but it is rare in Europe. Each to their own I suppose, if it works why fix it!

I found out about the above Aerodome Building, it was originally an open air movie theatre, I bet that was a bit chilly in the winter. It was opened in 1914 and was called the Airdome. The first building was demolished and the current building stands in it's place. Here's a short archive entry about it.

All in all, Madison looks like a nice place to live, although the school busses aren't very reliable...

It is thought that the town was named after the place in England that was the hometown of early settlers, Guildford. Why they dropped the D is unknown, although they did add an E at the end on early maps, also sometimes dropping the U as well. Just to confuse people obviously!

There is a large collection of historic houses in Guilford, third largest in New England apparently! The Henry Whitfield House is the oldest in Connecticut, and the oldest stone built house in North America. It dates to around 1639.

Amongst the famous(ish) people associated with Guilford, there is Bryan Adams' drummer, Mickey Curry, an actress that was in Ugly Betty and How I Met Your Mother, Becki Newton, and Nick Fradiani, winner of American Idol season 14. Nah, me neither!

Branford takes it name from the town of Brentford in the United Kingdom, typical of those dang settlers swapping and changing letters in names!

During the 19th century, Branford billed itself as a "resort town", with hotels opening up to cater for holiday makers. However, by the mid 20th century, Branford dropped this image and became more of a "suburb town". There are still many historic buildings in the area and tourism still creates some income for the area, with sea cruises of the nearby Thimble Islands and seal watching trips being the most popular activities.

Passing through Branford is an endless road between diners, fast food establishments, car lots, various offices, but strangely I didn't see a McDonalds. I did however, spot the sign below, the first time I've spotted one for this destination...

New Haven was one of the first cities in the US to be planned, an initial eight streets were laid out in a three by three grid creatin what is known as a "Nine Square Grid". This design is now recognised as a National Planning Landmark.

In 1661, three judges that had signed the death warrant for King Charles I in England, fled to New Haven to escape trial. None of the three judges returned to England and lived out their lives in New Haven and New England.

In 1716, the Collegiate School moved from Old Saybrook to New Haven, following a donation from a merchant of the East India Company, Elihu Yale, former governor of Madras, India, the school was renamed Yale College.

It is fair to say that New Haven has had it's fair share of racial tension, from anti-slavery protests in the 19th century to urban engineering in the 1950's. However, nowadays following regeneration, New Haven is now an up and coming city.

There are some famous firsts that occurred in New Haven and the surrounding area. Samuel Colt invented the automatic revolver, the first public payphone appears, the first hamburger is made, and the frisbee is said to have been developed at Yale.

After passing through a small section of the town of Orange, which was just a street through an array of fast-food joints and car lots, we arrive in Milford.

Milford, according to the sign, was settled in 1639, when Puritan immigrants purchased the land from the Native Americans for a few trinkets. The township steadily grew and was well known for it's shipbuilding and oyster industries. In fact, the city holds an annual Oyster Festival each August commemorating the seafood.

In 1902, Quaker oats offered plots of land in Milford via coupons in their boxes of oatmeal. The deals were entirely legal due to lax planning laws at the time, however in the 1970's, the city bought the land after condemning all of the properties in one fell swoop. The Bic lighter factory now stands on the land. Other major employers in the area include the Schick Shaving Company and Doctor's Associates, the name behind the Subway franchises.

Milford has the most coastline of all the Connecticut towns, around 14 miles of it, unfortunately Route 1 doesn't see any of it apart from a bridge over the Housatonic River.

After crossing the aforementioned bridge and scuttling under the I-95 Interstate highway, our first impressions of Stratford are a Walmart parking lot and a Home Depot, classic United States!

Stratford is another town established by Puritan settlers from England that were fleeing the uprisings in the years prior to the English Civil War. It was named in memory of Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of some playwright that no-one has heard of. There are descendants of the original settling families still living in Stratford today. In fact, President Gerald Ford was a descendant of a Stratford family.

One of the town's largest employers is the Sikorsky Aircraft Company, which built and flew the worlds first commercial helicopter in 1939. Amongst other employers is the leading US manufacturer of alcohol-free beer. The Athletic Brewing Company had a 61% share of the market in 2021.

At first glance, the comment under the above picture doesn't make sense. However, if you do a little light searching on that internet thingy, you'll find that the incumbent mayor was also mayor of Bridgeport from 1991 to 2003 when he resigned after being convicted of felony fraud, after serving seven years of a nine year sentence, he ran for mayor and was voted in, despite his conviction for taking bribes whilst in office!

Anyway, Bridgeport has the highest population of any Connecticut town with just under 150,ooo residents according to the 2020 census. It takes it's name from a bridge that is near the port apparantly, who'd a thought it!

Bridgeport has claims to a number of firsts. The first telephone exchange, the first dental hygiene school, and the world's first Subway restaurant. The electric plug outlet was also invented in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport was an adopted home of P.T.Barnum, the famous showman. On his first visit he met a local dwarf who became a well-known act of Barnum's, going under the name of General Tom Thumb. Barnum built several houses in the town, and was made mayor in 1875.

Famous people born in the town include, actor Robert Mitchum, Vinnie Vincent (former member of rock band KISS) and Victoria Lee Soto who died protecting her pupils in the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, CT.

Fairfield was settled in 1639 on land bought from the indigenous people in the area, they described the land as a "fair field" and hence the name stuck. Over the years, Fairfield has benefited from the expansion of it's neighbour, Bridgeport. During the Great Depression of the 1930's the town still expanded from 6 to 17 thousand inhabitants.

One of Fairfield's most famous residents was Paul Hogan who lived there with his wife Linda Kozlowski, who are they you may ask? Well, remember the Crocodile Dundee series of films? They're the two main stars. You can bet they don't have a 'gator problem in Fairfield!

Actress Meg Ryan was born in Fairfield and Michael Weatherly, Tony DiNozzo in NCIS, grew up there.

This episode has taken a lot longer than I wanted. The last edition, number 6, was published on 25th July 2025, it's now December 21st of that year, so I make that almost 5 months. Wow, I didn't realise it has been that long, please accept my sincere apologies. There has been a few extenuating circumstances for this delay.

My shift patterns at work changed, so not as much time to write during the day, I was delivering to different places with less downtime to do preparation and research.

My daughter is expecting her first baby in February, so there have been family preparations for that, and then we get towards the end of the year and Christmas is looming. With three grandchildren already, there are lots of presents to buy and wrap, so even less time than normal to sit down for a few hours and write blogs.

These blogs rightfully took a back seat, never forget kids, family comes first!

So what happens now?

Well, some of you may have seen my Message Board post asking this very question. Thanks to all that replied and I have come to a decision on the future of my blogs...

I will be continuing, don't all groan at once please. But in a slightly different way. I'll try to explain it as best I can.

This series will continue, however, there will be a gap between episodes. I shall be writing a short entry, maybe one town, whenever I have a little spare time.

In between this I will be writing a couple of one-off blogs, and I have also decided that I shall start writing a new series as well. This will be in a similar vein to my Five Islands blogs, but instead of islands there will be five villages in each blog. At the moment I shall be concentrating on the UK and Ireland, but may extend it into Europe and the Rest of the World at a later date.

My next blog will be in 2026, but watch this space.

Oh yes, and I've scrapped the mileage counter at the end of these blogs, I took too long to work it out on Google Maps, because that routing always tried to take me on I-95.

It just leaves me to say.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS or HAPPY HOLIDAYS