Street Name Legacy Project

The Society of the Founders of Norwich and the Leffingwell House Museum are proud to announce the start of a new project to bring the past and the present together for the future.

A legacy is something handed down from an ancestor, or a predecessor from the past. Street names reflect both the history and culture of a community.

The Society of the Founders of Norwich, CT and the Leffingwell House Museum invite you to participate in a Legacy Project to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Founding of Norwich Connecticut. We are asking everyone to participate with us in a project to collect what we can learn about how and why the streets of Norwich carry the names they do. The information gathered and submitted will be compiled and made accessible to the public on our website.

If there is enough interest and information we are hoping this legacy project will turn into a reference book for current and future residents and builders of Norwich.

What is the story behind the name of your street? Who or what was it named after? When was it built and added to the list of Norwich streets? What made it a special place to live on before and what makes it a special place to live on today? Where is your street located? Why is your street shaped the way it is? What makes your street special? Was it named after a family? References may be books, letters, diaries, or recollections. Don't hesitate to interview friends, neighbors, and family members. Please don't forget to verify the spelling of their names as your source.

When Norwich was little more than a forest, streets were named for landmarks like Church or Market, a location reference such as East or North or to obvious topographic or hydrological features like Lake or Hill. Friends and leaders were honored to have their name used and after the American Revolution, the names of heroes like Washington became popular.

Roads led to other towns and streets meant you were in a city. Even Alleys were used as polite descriptions and locations.

Lettered, numbered and streets named for trees were all the rage after 1850.

Changes in culture led us from the crowding and rigid forms of the early industrial city to the more scattered individual look of streets with homes and lawns and parks with grave monuments and other natural features. After the Civil War developers and their associates began building subdivisions with themed names and by 1880, the popular "street" name was displaced with "avenue."

From 1890 to 1910 there were boulevards, and colonnades and then a return to "park," "court" and "terrace." After World War I, came the automobile and the popular "avenue" became "drive."

Please send your submissions, including your name and your reference to norwichstreets@yahoo.com or Norwich Streets, Society of the Founders of Norwich, CT, PO Box 13, Norwich, CT 06360 or stop by the Leffingwell House Museum on Saturdays April through October or contact Beryl Fishbone at 860.887.9000.

Beryl Fishbone