Chronology of Route 146

Route 146 in Guilford: Selected Chronological Highlights for Leete’s Island Road, Sachem’s Head Road, Water Street, and Boston Street

Compiled by Nona Bloomer

17TH CENTURY

1639

The original Guilford/ Branford boundary:1

1661

The grant to Governor William Leete of approximately eighty acres of upland extending from Lost Lake in the West Woods to Joshua Point “was ratified at the town meeting of February 19, 1661.”4

18TH CENTURY 

1706

“Leete’s Island probably remained a horse pasture until Pelatiah Leete, a grandson of the governor, settled there about 1706.”6

1794

“The main road [through Guilford] was formerly much used by travelers from New York to Boston. In May 1794, it was made a part of the great mail route from Georgia to Maine.”7

19TH CENTURY

1815

“The southern section of the stagecoach [mail] route between New York and Boston passed through the green on the diagonal.”8

1815 

The “Stage Road” moves off the Guilford Green: “The turning point in the life of Guilford’s green came with the organization of the town borough in 1815…. The vision of the borough officials . . . called for making a thorough and clean sweep of the green.”9

1818

“The ‘Shore Road’ to Stony Creek was not voted until Nov. 1818.”10  

“Referred to as ‘the old road to Guilford’ in a number of mid 19th century [Branford] deeds … portions of Route 146 … were initially laid out by the early 18th century as part of the coastal road linking the village centers of Branford and Guilford.”11

1852

The railroad arrives: “The catalyst for the first of a series of boundary adjustments and readjustments was the construction of the tracks of the New Haven, New London, and Stonington railroad, which opened in 1852….  Both Norton families were now visually and physically separated from their few Branford neighbors…. Nelson T. Crowell, whose house and property were also in the eastern part of Branford at Hoadley’s Neck, joined the three Nortons, Jesse B., John B., and Henry W., in their petition to have their land annexed to Guilford. At that time, the Norton homesteads in Branford were less than one hundred yards west from the eastern tributary of Hoadley’s Creek, the 1639 Oiockcommock boundary.”12

1860

“Upon the petition of John B. Norton and others, praying for the annexation of a part of the Town of Branford to the Town of Guilford: Resolved by this Assembly, that all that part of the Town of Branford lying east and south of a line commencing at a large cedar tree on the shore of Long Island Sound … is hereby incorporated into and made a part of the Town of Guilford…. Approved June 20, 1860.”14

1870

John Beattie arrives “intending to start a quarry operation at Hoadley’s Neck, which now straddled the Guilford-Branford boundary line…. Beattie very soon filed his own petition for another boundary change, not only because he did not want to pay property taxes to two different towns, but also because he wanted a proper road constructed from his house to the Leete’s Island railroad depot.”17

1885

“On April 1, 1885, the new boundary was officially described in an Act that also happened to refer to the creek by its proper name … ‘Hoadley’s Creek’.”18

1888

“The growing popularity of Sachem’s Head as a summer resort caused attempts to change the crossing on the road thither…. The road, as changed, was accepted in October 1888. Since the change, the road goes under the track, having its course changed to the eastward to enable it to do so, and the Leete’s Island road, using the same crossing, turns off to meet the old road thither, thus avoiding the bridge by which it formerly crossed the track.”23

1890 - 1891

“The [rail] road was double-tracked through Guilford and Madison in 1890 and 1891…. On June 13, 1891, the town voted to buy right of way for a new road at Snake Pond (on the road to Leete’s Island), to remove the road [away] from the railroad track, provided the railroad would build the new road as it offered to do. This was afterwards done.”24

“A major upgrading of the railroad right-of-way undertaken in the early 1890s by the Shore Line’s successor, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, resulted in some notable modifications to the appearance and configuration of portions of the [historic] district’s highway…. The original single-track [trestle] rail crossings at Leetes Island Road near the Branford/Guilford town line and at the junction of Sachems Head Road and Water Street in Guilford were supplanted by safer cut-stone overpasses supporting the railroad’s newly raised twin-tracked bed.”25

1895

“Initially known as the State Highway Commission, Connecticut’s State Highway Department (now Department of Transportation) was created by an act of the state legislature in 1895.”27

1896

“One of the first horseless carriages operated in Connecticut was designed by E. P. Clapp of New Haven about 1896, so that the rise of automobile traffic paralleled and coincided with the growth of the highway department…. Originally created for the specific purpose of constructing roads, the maintenance of which was left in control of the towns, the highway department has had many additional duties assigned to it. Among these are the maintenance of state highways, the cost of which since 1923 has been paid entirely by the state.”28

1899

Petition in circulation to the selectmen to call a special town meeting to consider “a plan to straighten and thereby improve a portion of the public highway in Leete’s Island. The section in question begins at a point near the front of the residence of George Sanborn, [715 Leete’s Island Road], a little way west of the small store formerly conducted by Calvin Leete, and to extend to the depot, the entire distance being about a quarter of a mile.”  (April 7, 1899 Shore Line Times)

“At the special town meeting there were twenty-nine citizens present, of whom twelve were from Leete’s Island. Selectman Woodruff stated that the selectmen had investigated the new route proposed, about one-fourth of a mile east of the Leete’s Island station, and he thought it was the worst place to build a road in Connecticut, excepting the place where the highway now runs. In his opinion the proposed road if built would have to be constructed of macadam as what little soil there may be at Leete’s island is now in use for farming purposes…. After some discussion as to the advisability of making it a piece of state road and taking advantage of the state appropriation, it was ascertained that this could not be done as it was not stated in the call for the meeting. Deacon Leete then made the following motion: Voted – That the selectmen be instructed to widen, straighten and otherwise improve a section of highway from a point near the residence of George C. Sanborn [715 Leete’s Island Road] to a point near the residence of Elmer J. Anderson [800 Leete’s Island Road] a distance of about one-fourth of a mile, and that we appropriate the sum of $1,000 for that purpose.” … “It has been some time since a similar sum of money has been appropriated by such a small gathering of Guilford taxpayers.” (April 28, 1899 Shore Line Times and April 29, 1899 Branford Opinion)

“The road at Leete’s island is almost completed. A small surplus remains from the appropriation of $1,000.” (November 30, 1899 Shore Line Times)

20th  CENTURY

“Trunk Line” and “State-Aid” Roads

1908 

“A statewide ‘Trunk Line’ system was established in 1908 [under which] principal highway routes connecting major population and industrial centers, were designated as state Trunk Lines. The responsibility for the reconstruction and maintenance of these Trunk Lines was assumed by the State Highway Department and wholly funded through state appropriations. Important town-owned secondary roads which connected Trunk Lines or the centers of small towns and villages, which individual towns selected for improvement and for which they “received 50% (after 1911, 100%) state funding assistance for improvements and upkeep were officially designated as ‘State Aid Roads’.”29

The Boston Post Road: A State “Trunk Line” Road

1922

 “For the present the Boston post road through the village of Guilford will not be touched. Construction will stop at the junction of River and York streets where the cut off joins York and will begin again to the east of Guilford at a point where the trolley track leaves the highway. (April 13, 1922 Shore Line Times).

“The finance board … by a unanimous vote … was in favor of a direct state road through the village, from Fair street to Clapboard Hill, if … the present route would be rebuilt and the trolley tracks removed. (May 4, 1922 Shore Line Times)

“It will be readily understood why the town officials and boards were disturbed over the  heavy expense the town must incur should the road through the center be discarded as a state highway.” (May 11, 1922 Shore Line Times)

1923

“In 1923, the role of the towns was eliminated and the State Highway Department assumed full responsibility for the selection, improvement and maintenance of all State Aid as well as Trunk Line roads…. Route 146 was one of a handful of roads in south-eastern New Haven County, and until at least the mid 1930s the only road in Guilford and one of two roads in Branford, to have been designated as State Aid Roads.”30

1925

“Boston Post road, through a period of years, has been undergoing a straightening process as it passes through the shore towns. This is a part of the Federal undertaking whereby through traffic is to follow a straight course, as nearly as may be, eliminating as much as possible the sharp corners and curves of the ancient road which are so favorable to traffic accidents…. It is a far cry from the stage coach, which was the first wheeled vehicle to be served by the Boston Post road, to the mammoth structures on wheels and the swift flying pleasure cars that pass over the highways in these times. The times change and the town must, perforce, change with them.” (November 5, 1925 Shore Line Times)

1926

“During 1923 and 1924, the State Highway Department has been rebuilding with a concrete surface, the Boston Post Road between the towns of Branford and Old Saybrook, with the exception of … the town of Guilford where, because of four short right angle turns between West River and the center of the town, traffic had to take special care to avoid accidents.… The State Highway Department proposes to go straight out through York street across the fields coming out at the top of Clapboard Hill, making an entirely new layout from the end of York street. This route will also do away with automobiles having to follow behind the street cars from Fair street through the center of the town.” (March 11, 1926 Shore Line Times)

1927

“The new highway cut-off at the north end of the borough was opened to traffic on Wednesday morning…. No sooner were the barriers removed than ’zip’ went the speed fiends along the straight-away pavement.” (October 13, 1927 Shore Line Times)

“New Federal Straightaway Passes North of Center and Travelers Thereon Prove Apt to  remain Unaware of Village’s Nearness …. Directional signs … now leave no uncertainty in the tourist mind as to when Guilford is reached…. New signs warning motorists to slow down to twenty miles while passing through Guilford, have been placed along the new Federal highway by the Borough Board with the approval of state officials.” (December 15, 1927 Shore Line Times)

Leete’s Island Road: A “State-Aid” Rural Road

1929 

A “special town meeting [is] called to consider the project of completing the Leete’s Island section of the state-aid highway, from Sachem’s Head underpass to the Branford town line west of the Leete’s island underpass.” (May 27, 1929 Shore Line Times)

“The second survey is now being made [with] a view to widening and straightening the highway, this involving frequent departures from the old route, which is crooked to a degree in some places….  The present lay-out of the Leete’s Island road is the original one only in part. Traces of sections of the original road may yet be seen running close beside the railroad. In the days of horse-drawn vehicles – the horse and the locomotive were apt to be in juxtaposition along these stretches to the excitement of the equine.” (July 18, 1929 Shore Line Times)

 “The following letter from Highway Commissioner Macdonald was read by Town Clerk Leete:

First Selectman…. The state-aid road through Leete’s Island is to be built, according to the unanimous vote of the adjourned special town meeting held in Guilford Town Hall on Friday evening…. Our division engineer . . . has prepared an estimate covering the cost of constructing the Leete’s Island Road, a distance of 10,000 feet of waterbound macadam, 18 ft. wide and 7 inches in depth. It is estimated that this project will cost approximately $90,304.84, exclusive of any property damage…. Will you please let me know if there is a likelihood of your town building this road under State Aid? Yours truly, John A. Macdonald, State Highway Commissioner.

The state-aid plan is explained as requiring the town to appropriate money to cover the entire cost of the stretch of road to be built. The state then repays to the town a certain sum each year until it has assumed three-fourths of the cost, the town permanently bearing the remaining one-fourth. Maintenance of the road devolves upon the state at the completion of the work.” (September 12, 1929 Shore Line Times)

1930

“Workmen are now engaged in cutting through the hill north of the residences of William S. Leete [616 Leete’s Island Road] and Judge Calvin M. Leete [650 Leete’s Island Road], whence the new layout cuts across a corner of the Beeler home-lot [700 Leete’s Island Road], eliminating two turns in the road and straightening it into a direct stretch to the Leete’s Island underpass. Other deviations from the old path are at Charles Hill’s brass foundry [135 Leete’s Island Road], where the new layout enters the land on the south doing away with two close and abrupt curves, and westward of the residence of Joseph Dolan [444 Leete’s Island Road], where the new lay-out crosses the meadows to the north of the present road as far as the former Julian place [559 Leete’s Island Road].”  (February 6, 1930 Shore Line Times)

1931

“The route’s gradual reconstruction … completed as far as the Branford town line by 1931, included modifications reflecting typical State Aid Road reconstruction specifications, such as: an increase in the average width of the roadway from roughly 13-18 feet to 25-33 feet (except at the railroad overpasses); the installation of the road’s first all-weather bound macadam surface; the expansion and/or replacement of existing causeways; the reconstruction of a few small bridges; and the installation of wood-post and wire-cable causeway guardrail systems…. Sharp bends, such as the one which originally ran close to the front of the Pelatiah Leete House (575 Leetes Island Road), were eliminated. The still extant awkward right-angle jog formed by the original junction of Leetes Island and Moose Hill Roads was by passed by the construction of the gently sweeping curve which now runs east/southeast from the Daniel and Charity Leete House past the Calvin M. Leete, Sr., House (715 and 650 Leetes Island Road, respectively).”31

Route 146 commissioned

1932

Route 146 was commissioned as part of the 1932 state highway renumbering, running from the intersection of US1 and Leetes Island Road in Branford, south to the current  route, then eastward to the current Route 77 in Guilford, and northward along the current Route 77 to US l.”33

1955

“To the surprise of Guilford … First Selectman Leslie I. Dudley and Representatives Gilbert M. Lombard and James McAdam, the State Highway Department took over the maintenance of Boston Street from the Green to the top of Clapboard Hill – a former state highway turned over to the town when the new U.S. 1 was built in the 1920’s. – Branford and Guilford joined forces during the recent legislative session to have the state take over a section of Route 146 in Leete’s Island and Stony Creek; it now develops that the bill included the extension of this route through Guilford to connect with U.S. 1 [at Clapboard Hill].” (November 3, 1955 Shore Line Times)

1990

Salt Box by Phil Dudley: “Route 146 is an important traffic artery, but it need not be re-worked as a speedway. A road whose characteristics demand careful driving may be as safe as a confidence-breeding speed-tempting freeway.” (March 21, 1990 Shore Line Times)

Letter from Ronald and Sarah McCulloch: “P.A. 87-280 … authorizes the Commissioner of Transportation to designate state highways as scenic roads.… The act does not affect road repairs or measures needed to promote safety … it simply declares that the state would consider citizens’ wishes, as well as those of Town Hall, should DOT plans threaten the character of the road. (March 28, 1990 Shore Line Times)

The National Register of Historic Places

April 1990

Route 146 Historic District Branford/Guilford is officially included in The National Register of Historic Places: “roughly bounded by Flat Rock Road in Branford to the west, and the West River bridge in Guilford to the east, the district includes all of the intervening right-of-way associated with Connecticut State Highway Route 146…. It also includes the fork at the southern end of Moose Hill Road, the property at 27 Moose Hill Road, and 51 other properties adjacent to Route 146.”34

Scenic State Highway

June 1990

“Route 146 now ‘scenic’….   “To qualify for the designation, a road must have significant natural or cultural features such as agricultural land, historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, marshes, shorelines and forests with mature trees…. The scenic roads program was established under a 1987 law, and the DOT adopted regulations for it in 1989.” (June 27, 1990 Shore Line Times)

“Any alteration of a scenic road shall maintain the character of such road when so designated, if practical.”35

“The State Department of Transportation will hold ceremonies today to unveil signs marking a 12.2-mile section of route 146 as a designated scenic roadway.” (August 8, 1990 Shore Line Times)

21st CENTURY

Friends of Historic Route 146

2020

“An overarching study that will help guide future plans for traffic improvements, safety upgrades, and how to address areas of frequent flooding, along with future sea level rise, along the Route 146 corridor between Branford and Guilford … requested in 2019 and conducted by South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) … is independent of [the] Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) and intends to outline roadway issues and corridor characteristics to be considered as general guidelines when future road projects are undertaken by DOT on the state road….  A citizens group made up of local stakeholders, Friends of Historic Route 146, is on a mission to ‘preserve the unique historic, scenic, recreational and residential character and ensure continued public enjoyment of Historic Route 146’.” (December 17, 2020 The Guilford Courier)

Note: I am indebted to Tracy Tomaselli, “Historical Room Specialist” for the Guilford Free Library, who provided original source material and technological guidance; Scott T. Gordon who traced the 19th-century route of Leete’s Island Road; and Guilford’s Town Historian, Joel Helander, who always answered my questions. – Nona Bloomer, February 2021

References

1. Nona Bloomer, From Oiockcommock to Hoadley’s Creek, a Topsy-Turvy Tale of the Guilford-

Branford Coastal Boundary, (The Guilford Papers, no. 6), Guilford Free Library, p.9.

2. Kim Granbery photographer.

3. Nona Bloomer photographer.

4. Joel Eliot Helander, A Treasury of Guilford Places, Guilford, CT, c2008, p. 343, see also Helander,

Leete’s Island Legacy, c1981, map.

5. Map of New Haven County, Connecticut, H. & C.T. Smith, 1856.

6. Bernard Christian Steiner, History of Guilford and Madison, Connecticut, 1897 edition reissued by the

Guilford Free Library, p. 204.

7. Steiner, op. cit., p. 213.

8. Nona Bloomer, The Guilford Green, (The Guilford Papers no. 3), Guilford Free Library, 1996, p. 17.

9. Ibid., p.18.

10. Steiner, op. cit., p. 214.

11. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, (NRHP),

“Route 146 Historic District Branford/Guilford” Registration Form, March 1, 1990.

12. Bloomer, From Oiockcommock to Hoadley’s Creek, p. 12.

13. Map of New Haven County, Connecticut, H. & C.T. Smith, 1856.

14. Bloomer, From Oiockcommock to Hoadley’s Creek, p. 40.

15. Ibid., p. 16.

16. Nona Bloomer photographer.

17. Bloomer, From Oiockcommock to Hoadley’s Creek, pp. 17-18.

18. Ibid., p. 21.

19. Ibid., p. 23.

20. Kim Granbery photographer.

21. Shore Line Times, March 14, 1990.

22. Kent Bloomer photographer.

23. Steiner, op. cit., p. 219.

24. Ibid., pp. 219-220.

25. NRHP, Section 8, p. 1.

26. Nona Bloomer photographer

27. NRHP, Section 8, p. 2.

28. Forty Years of Highway Development in Connecticut, 1895-1935, (Tercentenary Commission of the

State of Connecticut, Committee on Historical Publications XLVI), Yale U. P., 1935, p. 7.

29. NRHP, Section 8, p. 2.

30. Ibid.

31. Ibid., Section 8, p. 3.

32. Ibid., photo #10.

33. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Route_146.

34. NRHP, “Statement of Significance.”

35.  https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2012/title-13b/chapter-242/section-13b-31c.