NEWTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY HITS THE ROAD ON THE MERRITT PARKWAY


NEWTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Box 189
NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT 06470

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact John Renjilian, 203-426-0864

NEWTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY HITS THE ROAD ON THE MERRITT PARKWAY

Many of us own or have visited homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but virtually all of us have ridden on a 37-mile treasure from the list, Connecticut’s own Merritt Parkway. On Sunday, January 6, from 2.00-4.00 PM in the meeting room of the C H Booth Library, 25 Main Street, the Newtown Historical Society, in conjunction with the library, will offer The Merritt Parkway: History and Future of a National Treasure, presented by Wes Haynes.

The Merritt was begun during the Depression building boom, and served both to improve the traffic flow through southern Connecticut and to give the state’s suffering economy a boost. But it turned out to be no ordinary infrastructure building project, with its emphasis on offering a scenic route on what was then a wide road. The signage for the road was uniquely rustic, and each overpass on the highway had its own unique Art Deco design.

Naturally, the highway was hit by overruns on its budget, but the state persevered over six years of construction, and the highway opened to the public in 1940. The road was such an inviting change from traditional roads going through urban areas that it was not unusual for early travelers to pull off for a picnic lunch on the side of the highway while at the same time feeling like they were out in the country. A bridle path was even planned to parallel the highway, though that idea was later abandoned.

Wes Haynes is Executive Director of the Merritt parkway Conservancy, a non-profit organization committed to the protection and stewardship of Connecticut’s largest and most heavily used cultural resource. He has worked for several preservation groups and government projects including restoration of new York City’s Central Park, and has recently completed a historic mills survey for the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, a statewide inventory of 1,500 historic industrial properties. He has also taught preservation courses at Parsons School of Design and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Please note this is a daytime program to accommodate daylight driving. Refreshments will be served following the program. For more information please call the Society at 203-426-5937, visit the website at www.newtownhistory.org or Facebook at www.facebook.com/newtownhistoricalsociety.