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Early New England fences

When early colonists first settled the West Simsbury hills of Simsbury, the area was virgin forest. They had an ample supply of wood to build their houses, mills and other […]

Celebrate Christmas … Or Just Another Day?

The 17th and 18th century colonial Puritans and Pilgrims of New England, such as those from Simsbury, CT, were very pious, so Christmas was just another day to devote to […]

Simsbury Sabbath and Pilfershire 1670-1770

The first European settlers of Simsbury, CT (a.k.a. the Massaco settlement) in the late 1600s were pious Puritans and Pilgrims (Puritan Separatists). To these Christians, the Bible was foremost. Worship […]

Celebrating Simsbury Revolutionary War Veterans

Simsbury residents – including West Simsbury farmers answered the call for revolution. Nearly 1,000 Simsbury residents, more than in any other war, served in the Revolution. Noah Phelps was the […]

A Stonewall Along The “Garrett Stairs”

A hike along McLean Game Refuge’s Westledge Trail in Pilfershire Simsbury includes an uphill section that goes in an east-west direction. This dirt road was referred to as the “Garrett […]

Monograph “The Homes of Pilfershire”

This is the currently published version 1.05 (2012) of my little paper about the homes and farms of Pilfershire, located in what is now the northwest corner of Simsbury Connecticut […]

1892 Topographical Map

Prior to discovering this map, I didn’t know that topographic maps even existed, knowing that present day “geodetic” maps are generated from data collected by airplane (and now satellite). But […]