Thomas Cummins was a member of the New Haven Night Watch, a precursor of the New Haven Police…read moreDepartment. On November 23, 1855, he and his partner tried to break up a fight on Morocco Street. Before they made an arrest, both officers were badly beaten and Cummins passed away from his injuries the next day. So Cummins became the first New Haven Police Officer to die in the line of duty. He also became the first of 137 names memorialized on this extremely powerful monument honoring the Connecticut law enforcement officers across the decades of time that have fallen while protecting and defending the citizens of the Nutmeg State. Plans for the monument go back to 1985 when the Connecticut Police Chief's Association appointed a committee to establish a permanent memorial to honor the local, state and federal officers who paid the ultimate price. This striking granite memorial was dedicated in 1989 and stands on the grounds of the Connecticut Police Academy in Meriden. It's an open walled gray granite square with 12 perimeter columns and a center black obelisk engraved with "Dedicated to those who have made the supreme sacrifice". There are engraved names, locations, and dates on the obelisk and the perimeter columns. An eternal flame on a black base is engraved with two words in gold - "Never Forget". The memorial site also includes two granite benches and two flagpoles flying the American flag, POW flag, and CT flag.

Baryte? Raise your…read morehand if you have ever heard of Baryte. Yeah, I thought so. I looked it up, it's a mineral related to barium sulfite. It's white and colorless and can be found in Cheshire, CT! That's just one of the nuggets of Cheshire trivia I found out from reading this marker. It's located in front of the Cheshire Historical Society. It's a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission in the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has different inscriptions on each side. It dates to 1976 and is in fairly good condition. There is some peeling of the blue paint on the top of the front side, while the back side is in better condition. The full inscription reads: Settled in 1695 as Wallingford "West Farms", this area obtained status as the village of New Cheshire in 1723. It was incorporated as a town in 1780. Cheshire became famous for its agricultural productivity and light manufacturing. Copper was mined here in the eighteenth century, the mineral barytes in the nineteenth. The Farmington Canal was completed through town in 1825. Cheshire is renowned for the Episcopal Academy, now Cheshire Academy, founded in 1794 by Samuel Seabury, first Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. Former students include financier John Pierpont Morgan, Jr.; Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy under President Lincoln; Civil War Admiral Andrew Foote; and Confederate General Joseph Wheeler. (Continued from other side) The Congregational Church was completed in 1827 to a design by David Hoadley, noted architect of New Haven. Among famous hostelries here were Beach Tavern, the Wallace and Munson Hotels, and the Waverly Inn. Cheshire is the site of the State Correctional Institution founded in 1910, and is the mother-town of Prospect, Connecticut, and Burton, Ohio, Among its famous sons are Governor Samuel A. Foote; Amos Doolittle, early silversmith and engraver; landscape artist John Frederick Kensett; Lambert Hitchcock, maker of popular chairs bearing his name; and Commodore Robert Hitchcock. Erected by the Cheshire American Revolution Bicentennial Committee the Town of Cheshire and the Connecticut Historical Commission 1976

I didn't expect to see a lone soldier monitoring an empty green when I went to the Prospect Public…read moreLibrary, but low, on the grassy knoll, was exactly that. This has been erected in honor of those citizens of Prospect who served during America's armed conflicts, and I hope is used for picnics or other civic events to give the statue company once in a while. Be sure to read the website for more history on the Soldier's Monument!

This museum is adorable! I came because of a Groupon, and parking may be an issue for events. It…read morewas very limited on the property itself, although there is handicapped parking right next to the main house. Outside there is a barn and old outhouse, and a beautiful garden display. it's very well maintained. The entrance is off the front porch, where you're greeted by a docent or intern. Tours of the house are 20-30 minutes, and it contains so many original items from the original family who owned it (it went right from the last surviving to a museum), and the last generation was into collecting. There's a lot of local history, many dog decorations, and GOBLETS. There's over 1,000 goblets, and most seem to be single styles. They are working on cataloging them. The house is beautiful, and the history is fascinating. If you live in the area, you'll pick up pieces of Southington back in the day. Children would even enjoy seeing the cases of old products and what names they may recognize. And the goblets are breathtaking. This is a great value museum! (They also sell postcards for a great price)

This guy never…read more threw out anything The Barnes Museum, formerly known as the Bradley Homestead, is a cool old house that serves as a historical library and is open to the public. It was built in 1836 and for five bucks you get to see and hear about another time and way of life. The first thing you notice once you are inside the house is that there is a lot of stuff. Lots of lots of stuff. All kinds of stuff. Stuff everywhere. It turns out Bradley Barnes, a son of the original builder of the house never threw out anything. He collected and kept all kinds of stuff. Some very cool stuff but also a lot of crap. It seems every single receipt, letter, photo, magazine, toy, knick knack and doo dad he every owned he kept. Perhaps some serious OCD going on there. It almost seemed like he knew the house was going to be a museum and wanted it well stocked with stuff. Of course all this stuff makes the house interesting to tour. The lady bringing us around seemed to know exactly what every single piece in the house was and where it came from. Pretty cool and amazing. All the stuff isn't from Bradley or from one temporal moment. Leela Barnes, Bradley's wife was a prolific painter and many of her paintings are scattered throughout the domicile. She also had many collections and also seem to keep just about everything she ever owned. You can definitely see what the attraction between these two was The house was being lived in until the 1970's when it was donated to the town so there were modifications and changes to the original structure and items from different decades. Going through the place is almost like a walk through time. Shifting back and forth through different years ands individuals. Of course you inevitable go back to Bradley's stuff. A great old house that is in absolutely pristine condition. It's filled with lots of very cool and some not so cool stuff. So much stuff that you have to thread carefully in places so that you don't end up breaking some of the stuff. I have a feeling that Leela and Bradley were a couple of crazy sob's but because of them we have a great old historic house filled with lots of very interesting stuff.

Courage Sacrifice Honor Determination…read more1959 1975 (Monument inscription) While looking for some background material on this monument, I found an excellent NY Times article from 1985, the year this monument was dedicated.. The small town of Wallingford sent 676 men and women to Vietnam. Twelve soldiers died there. Some of Wallingford's returning veterans wanted to build a Vietnam Memorial to honor the service of their colleagues. There was opposition from some folks of an "older generation of veterans" who didn't think the Vietnam vets deserved a monument. The article quoted a belief of some that "Losers don't deserve a monument". So the vets decided to pursue and fund the monument on their own. They raised $80,000 from T-shirt sales, car washes, garage sales, dinners and raffles. Local artists donated their services to help the monument become a reality. The design is striking- an eleven foot tall tilted V-shaped wedge of black granite. The artist who designed the monument said that the tilted angle represents "an inconclusive end to an undeclared war". The sides of the Wedge bear the names of hundreds of Wallingford's Vietnam vets. Some of the names are shadowed in a gold leaf to represent those Killed in Action. The V-shaped inscription reads: During the 16 years the war continued American Soldiers Sailors, Airmen and Marines fought with heroism and determination under some of the most difficult circumstances ever encountered by American armed forces. Tragically, upon their return home they received virtually no recognition for their service and sacrifice because of the raging controversy over United States policy in conducting the war. 300,000 were wounded in action 75,000 were permanently disabled 58,118 were killed in combat Later, thousands more would die as a result of gunshot wounds and the dioxin code named "agent orange" As of this date, November 11th, 1985, ten years after the fall of the Saigon government and twelve years after the removal of American ground forces from Vietnam, 2,489 brave Americans remain missing in action or held prisoners of war. They Are Not Forgotten

I had an exceptional experience with two officers on August 11th. A car repair shop had my son's…read moretruck for over 2 months and refused to let me take it. I called the police and requested an escort. The officers that escorted me to the shop made the process smooth and easy. The officers got there before me and had everything handled already when I got there. I am very grateful to have had such a positive experience with them. Unfortunately I had a less positive experience with another officer, the next day. He was literally screaming in my face as if I was a criminal over something I genuinely had no clue about. He literally kept yelling you knew you knew, like a child taunting me. I decided to not explain myself to someone committed to misunderstand me. I dealt with the consequences and moved on. Definitely not letting the experience from that 1 officer predict how I feel about the rest.

I had experiences with the police sometime back. The response was incredible and professional…read moreexceptional. On the other hand I complained on handicapped Parking taken over by able bodies. can something be done about it?who's in charge of the fine ,city council's , board of selectman or state officials. I know it's hard to control the problem but I believe raising the fine will make the "able bodies" to think and stop. Thanks ".