I love the whole area over there... between the people and the stories I'm told, I always enjoy knocking on those doors.I think one of my favorite tidbits... the front yard of the Enos Brooks house was designed by a gentleman named Frederick Law Olmstead. And if you've never heard of Mr. Olmstead, you may have heard of some of his other work... for example, NYCs Central Park.
And another factoid I learned while over there one day... Brooksvale is derived from the Brooks family name and the word vale, meaning river or river valley. So the stream that runs adjacent to South Brooksvale (from Mt. Sanford to the linear trail) gave name to two of the main arteries in the 4th district.
And one last point of information... the Enos Brooks house has been owned by the same family since it was built in 1733. And that the longest that any Connecticut house has been continuosly owned by one family.
Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
p.s. If I got any of my facts wrong, please correct me! I'm pretty sure that's all correct though.
Mr. Olmstead was a Hartford native who was asked to design Bushnell Park but was unavailable at the time (due to his commitment to the Central Park project). His son was involved in the re-design of the park after the burial of the Park River.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bushnellpark.org/Content/Park_History.asp