Who was General David Humphreys? He accepted the British flag when they surrendered to end the…read moreAmerican Revolutionary War. He was a Derby native. Add that historical nugget to the knowledge that pins, silver, bolts, typewriters, harnesses, and hoop skirts were manufactured here back in the day and you have one pretty cool marker. This is a 2-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has different inscriptions on each side. The marker was dedicated in 1981 and is in excellent shape. The blue background is fairly bright with no signs of fading or peeling. The full inscription reads: Derby Birthplace of two distinguished wartime heroes General David Humphreys, aide-de-camp to General George Washington, accepted the British colors at the surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. Friend of both Washington and General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish patriot and hero of the American Revolutionary War. Commodore Isaac Hull, commander of the frigate Constitution ("Old Ironsides") which destroyed the British frigate Guerriere in the first great naval battle of the War of 1812. Many brave men and women from Derby also served or gave their lives for their country in all wars in which the United States has engaged. In 1642 John Wakeman established the first trading post in the Naugatuck Valley at the confluence of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers. Edward Wooster, a Milford pioneer, became the first permanent settler in 1654. The land, originally called Paugassett for the native Paugasuck Indians, was granted rights of a plantation and in 1675 named Derby after Derby, England, former home of some of the settlers. It included what is now Ansonia, Seymour, and parts of Oxford and Beacon Falls. Shipbuilding and agriculture made Derby a major foreign and domestic seaport until the early 1800's. In 1833 Sheldon Smith began a manufacturing center between the two rivers. Industries flourished in the making of iron, copper, organs, pins, silver, bolts, typewriters, harness, hoop skirts, tools, and wheels. The first trolley car in New England ran here in 1888. In 1893, with its present boundaries, Derby became a city. Today it remains an industrial center of great diversity Erected 1981 by the City of Derby, the Old Derby Historical Society, and the Connecticut Historical Commission. 154 CT towns done, 16 to go

"Well, cuddle up, angel, cuddle up, my little dove And we'll…read moreride down, baby, into this tunnel of love" (Bruce Springsteen) You'll find it on the Wilbur Cross Parkway near New Haven, CT. Driving on the Parkway, it's become a Connecticut landmark - a welcome and familiar sight. It was blasted through a 1,200-foot-long hole through the West Ridge Mountain in 1949. It carries approximately 77,300 vehicles daily. It was originally named the West Rock Tunnel. It was renamed the Heroes Tunnel in 2003 to honor "heroes of all kinds" in the post-September 11 era. The Tunnel and Wilbur Cross Parkway are vital connectors between New York and Hartford.

The Heroes Tunnel (formerly known as the West Rock Tunnel)…read more "the former name of this tunnel was provided by fellow YELPER Jim C. from Wallingford, CT and represents "historical" information that can not be confirmed or denied by this reviewer but much appreciated" The tunnels are located along the Wilbur Cross Parkway (Route 15) in the Town of Woodbridge and the City of New Haven, near the Town of Hamden border. The Heroes Tunnel is a 1,200-foot long tunnel, which passes through West Rock Ridge in New Haven and Woodbridge. The existing tunnels were constructed between spring 1948 and fall 1949 and consists of two 28-foot wide by 19-foot high barrels with horseshoe cross-sections. The northbound and southbound barrels of the tunnel consist of two 11-foot wide travel lanes with 6-inch shoulders and a 2-foot 6-inch wide raised maintenance walk on each side. The centerlines of the barrels are approximately 63 feet apart. It is debatable that this is the only tunnel to pass beneath a natural land feature in the State of Connecticut and is eligible for listing on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places. It seems the renaming of these tunnels weren't well received - this challenge to leave the tunnels name in tack was not in anyway meant to take away from the many heroic efforts by any of the participants the name "Heroes Tunnel" may reference whom have sacrificed it all helping humanity, it's more about renaming history and the cancel culture that continues to identify and change historical significance landmarks that aren't offensive and was in no way meant to be prejudice against any culture, creed or the oppressed. These tunnels were engineering marvels through the time of their inception and construction and are monumental feats that reflect the pride of those that worked and sweated to make travel in the area convenient and safe for those that transverse America's highways...

On the tenth anniversary of that terrible day, the Woodbridge Volunteer Fire Association unveiled…read morethis memorial to the murderous attacks on the World Trade Center. You can see it right at the main entrance of the Woodbridge Volunteer Fire Department. Members of the association traveled to JFK airport and returned to Woodbridge with a 1,200 pound steel beam from one of the fallen towers. A crane was needed to hoist the beam in the air and place it into its final position at the memorial. The memorial's design has the beam rising from a pool of water. At night, the pool is illuminated in a blue light that shines an image of the Twin Towers onto the firehouse. A stone at the base of the memorial is engraved with these words: "Never Forget 9-11-01" Around the steel beam is a memorial garden that also honors the fallen firefighters of Woodbridge.

The sign up front. I can never tell if this place is open. I would revise my review once I get the…read moreopportunity to actually tour it. It would be nice if they had hours of operation and grab and go calendars readily accessible.

The Seymour Historical Society is a gem! The Catherine Matthies house serves as a working museum…read morealong with hosting the Society. The Society puts on 8 to 10 programs throughout the year and invites the community in for them and to view the collections. The speakers that they get for the programs are fantastic! I have attended talks on bees, the Naugatuck River dams, all the wars, on Yale Bowl, on old trails and roadways in the area, and all sorts of other topics. If you haven't had a chance to visit, check their Facebook page or website, www.SeymourHistoricalSociety.org for upcoming event dates.

Are you a Beatles fan and are you pretty good at Beatle trivia? OK, fanboy, what unusual musical…read moreinstrument, dating to the 1800's can be heard on "We Can Work It Out", "A Day in the Life", "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", "Hello, Goodbye", and "Your Mother Should Know"? The answer is a harmonium a/k/a melodeon. They are varieties of free reed organs. And guess what old CT town manufactured melodeons? Ever use a book of matches? Some of the earliest matches made in the US of A were also made here. The Woodbridge Historical marker from the CT Historical Commission is located on an exterior wall of the Old Center School, which now houses the police station and various town offices. You'll see the familiar white lettering on a blue background mounted high on the gable end of the brick building. The marker was dedicated in 1979 and is in pretty good condition with no signs of fading or peeling The full inscription reads: Woodbridge The town consists of portions of the colonial jurisdictions of New Haven and Milford. Founded in 1738 as the Parish of Amity, it was incorporated in 1784 by act of the Connecticut General Assembly and named after the first parish minister, the Reverend Benjamin Woodbridge, who served 1742 to 1785. The first meetinghouse was built in 1740 on the green and met the needs of the community until 1832, when it was replaced by the present building, dedicated on January 1, 1833. The early economy was largely agricultural, but there were several small factories producing such items as melodeons, corkscrews, cement, candlesticks, clocks, and spinning wheels. Some of the earliest friction matches in this country were made in Woodbridge. The decline of farming and improved transportation after 1900, together with the natural beauty and topography of the land, have contributed largely to its growth and distinction as a residential community. Erected by the Town of Woodbridge the Amity & Woodbridge Historical Society and the Connecticut Historical Commission 1979 156 CT towns done, 14 to go

My boyfriend and I went for a mini vacation in Norwalk, CT and I booked the Sunset Harbor…read moreLighthouse Tour which we went on this past Sunday evening from 6:30-8:30, on 8/10/25. This tour was definitely a highlight of our trip! Captain John and Charlie were great and all the passengers aboard had a great time! We passed three lighthouses-Peck Ledge LH, Sheffield Island LH and Green's Ledge LH. Charlie, co-captain of Captain John, had just toured the inside of Green's Ledge LH the day before which is listed on Airbnb for $6,000! He went around the ship showing everyone the floor plan. It especially exciting to be on the Long Island Sound and to see the red and white towers from Northport, since I live on Long Island!! We were able to see several different viewpoints of the sunset and osprey nests as well. Definitely recommend to residents of Norwalk AND tourists alike!

Like a lot of other dork type middle age dudes I'm a sucker for a good lighthouse. Actually I've…read morebeen to a few clinkers which says that I'm apparently I'm also a sucker for a bad lighthouse as well but there's no need to worry about that at Sheffield because it's all good here. So if you want to come you've got two legal options. 1. Show up via kayak (or I suppose boat then taking a short swim) during hours when they are running tours and you will be met on the shore by a volunteer who will ask you to pay a few dollars for the privilege of taking the lighthouse tour/hanging out on the island. 2. Or, you come via the regularly scheduled boat that runs from the dock on North Water Street in Norwalk from late May until the end of September. There are various public & private decks for parking all around the area so it shouldn't be too hard to find a close space. I don't remember what the price is for option #1 but for option #2 the below currently apply: Adults: $22.00 - Children 12 & Under: $12.00 Senior / NSA Member $20.00 Active Military with ID $10.00 Children 3 & Under: $5.00 Family 4 Pack (2 Adults, 2 Children) $55.00 A few random facts: Boats depart weekends only every year over Memorial Day weekend and eventually go daily from July until Labor Day and then back to weekends only until the end of September. Check seaport.org for the current schedule and for special events such as their clambakes. Once you get to the island you get to take a brief tour of the lighthouse which was built in 1868 (downstairs only for now as the upstairs tower portion is being worked on and hopefully tours will be allowed there in the not to distant future once they get the stairs in better shape along with figuring out a way to dissipate the heat which we were told was well over 100 degrees the day we were there in August) and you can also walk through the nature trail via the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge. If you are going to walk on the nature trail or along the beach that fronts Sheffield Island Harbor just know that things are "wild" and that you will get eaten alive by flies, mosquitoes and I wouldn't be shocked if the trees had lots of ticks. The lighthouse was relit in 2011 for the first time in 91 years. Why Sheffield Island? The island was named after Revolutionary War veteran Captain Robert Sheffield who bought the island in 1804. He married Temperance Doty, a Mayflower descendant and such started the current lineage of the island's name. The 47 acre island is private property that is primarily owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the Norwalk Seaport Association depending upon the website owning only three or four of those acres. You will be reminded a few times of where you can and cannot walk. Speaking of an area you can't walk by it would be the dilapidated house on the right near the dock. That house is still owned by the Stabell family who sold the island to the Norwalk Seaport Association in 1986 for 700K. I forget the exact story we were told but it's something along the lines of the "home" (more of a dilapidated shack) cannot be renovated because of Fish and Wildlife Service rules and if they raze the structure they lose the land so the shack stands as is. The island itself is around a mile and half from the dock in Norwalk and the boat is kept at a country club pace in both directions which equals about 40 minutes to make the trip in each direction. This is fine as one of the crew did a fairly good job or telling everyone about some of the various islands & lighthouses & birds in the area and about the local shellfish industry. Past that it's just sit back and relax on some of their picnic benches and have a picnic or don't do a damn thing except the enjoy the beautiful view. Either way it's awesome.

What a great library in a rural area. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. They…read morehave a wide range of materials and if you can't find what you're looking for, they can order it for you. The place was very clean and well organized. It also has a great children's section upstairs.

For a town of its size, the collection and facilities of the public library in Woodbridge are…read moredecent. However, it clearly trails other local libraries in certain areas. Most prominently, other libraries get new books and DVDs out into circulation MUCH faster than Woodbridge. Other libraries seem to get stuff out on street date (the day it would go on sale at retail) - at Woodbridge, it almost always takes a week or two of sitting in "Tech Services" before anything goes out. When I brought this to the attention of the previous Director, she merely gave me a list of flimsy excuses. It was pretty sad, as the fact remains every other library is serving their users more efficiently. The underlying problem is that though the librarians here are fairly pleasant, there's virtually no turnover, and therefore nothing encouraging anyone to work smarter, harder, faster, etc. In addition to everything working slowly, I've noted that the librarians rarely collect late fees, especially from the older patrons - they usually say something like "you have a late fee of x, but don't worry about it if you don't have it today". What's the possible justification for not collecting late fees? To make it worse, I've on several occasions seen librarians inform a patron that they have an overdue item, and the patron say "oh, I returned that". And the librarian accepts this claim at face value, and tells the patron not to worry! I witnessed this just the other day. This encourages awful behavior and punishes the rest of us who go to pains to respect the library's collection, return items on time, pay late fees, etc.

I was super excited to go here with my two friends since it's supposed to be pretty haunted and…read moreit's October after all. My dad had even gone on a ghost dinner tour last year and had a weird experience. The aesthetic and decor are really cool being an old bank. We ate downstairs which was super intimate. We loved the exposed stone and really enjoyed the acoustic guitar player who took requests! It is just unfortunate that we were unable to be seated upstairs like we had requested upon making our reservation. This had been even more frustrating since the man I spoke with on the phone said it was no problem, so it wasn't until we arrived that all of a sudden they couldn't accommodate us upstairs due to a party. Obviously I understand a party means no room for us, but it would have been nice to have known ahead of time (and since it was a party I'm SURE they knew). REGARDLESS, I only took off one star for that misunderstanding (and because I wasn't a huge fan of the stuffed mushrooms - I didn't like the consistency of the stuffing) because honestly it ended up working out in our favor; we really did love the downstairs! We had good drinks and delicious salads. My favorite were the fried artichoke hearts though! And the escargot was delish too! Good food, good music, good ambience, good service; overall we were very happy!

Let me start by saying I've never been here but was intrigued by its history for years. I purchased…read morea gift card from a local radio stations promotion because I figured this is a great reason to try this place out. I received a $50 gift card for $25 so I'm already ahead of the game! I'm not here to bash Twisted Vine but to hopefully open up someone's eyes to my perception as a guest. I have been in the food service/restaurant business for over 50 years, and I'm drawn to places like this for their nostalgia and history. The reviews are all pretty mixed and I get that. A lot of guests' experience have to do with whatever or whoever they experience in their one hour exposure to their dining choice. We approached the restaurant from the main sidewalk and went to what used to be the main entrance to the bank. It was secured so we went over to the lounge/bar entrance and figured we'd get in and ask to be directed to the dining room. There was an event going on so we were asked if eating in the downstairs was acceptable to us. It was, so off we went to the downstairs. Back to the sidewalk for a moment... The windows looked as if the restaurant had been closed for years. You really couldn't tell if they were open or not. OK...back downstairs. As we arrived at the bottom of the stairs, there was an overwhelming aroma of mildew. You know that musty basement scent. I ignored it and continued. There was one table with guests sitting there, this is at 6:00 PM on a Friday night. I didn't think much of it, but I was suspicious of the lack of business on a busy night. We were told we could sit wherever we'd like so since this was a special occasion for my fiancé and me, we sat kind of in the corner downstairs. The tablecloth tables added a nice touch and the ambiance I was what I was looking for. As we sat down and started to look around, we commented on the musty smell and started to notice the surroundings. There are a lot of brick walls downstairs and the efflorescence on all the surface of the bricks was typical of older structures. This powdery substance was on the carpet in the entire dining room. It should be vacuumed up as it is easily spread around by foot traffic, and no one wants to worry about it getting it near their food. It extended about 4 inches out onto the carpet, so this was not new dust. The entire downstairs could benefit by a good vacuuming! When we were done eating, which I need to say was pretty good, I went to the men's room. The toilet seat in the men's room is covered on the underside with dried feces, and the rim of the bowl looks as if it hadn't been cleaned in more that a few days. This was disgusting and really turned me off and made me decide to write a review. With all the things we saw on our way in; dirty windows, musty smell, missing wall baseboards in the men's room, dirty carpets all over and brick dust falling all over the place, the dirty men's room topped it off. If I had gone to the men's room prior to eating, we would have left and not ordered. My feelings are, if the bathroom, and all the spots in the restaurant are dirty where the public can see it... what must the restaurant look like in the back of the house where the public can't see. I know it costs money to repair old things that are in a state of disarray but for the sake of the guests who will patronize your place, please wash the windows, vacuum the carpets and clean the toilets (disgusting.) I'm glad we went to dinner and it was an eventful evening for us however; we will not be returning. The men's room really topped off the reason for my review. I hope you take this information and "look" at your restaurant when you get there. These are easy fixes and I now understand why the business was so slow when we got there. I hope you can take this information for what it's worth and take corrective action on it. It's pretty easy, just look at what the quests see when they come to your business. I don't know if the owner ever visits this restaurant but there has to be a manager who is accountable for this. Best of luck to you.