How’d It Get That Name?

 

Aunt Park Lane – Aunt Park was a Newtown woman who was proficient in making remedies from plants she grew or found in nearby woods and fields.

Boggs Hill Road – The area referred to in records of 1716 as “Ye Great Boggs and Ye Little Boggs” lies near this road and present day Route 302.

Brushy Hill Road – The second longest town road is a modern one, as roads go. Its original name was Captain Bennett’s How Swamp Road, because it led to the hog swamp, which is where present day John Beech Road is.

Button Shop Road – A company which manufactured buttons from horns and hooves was located in this area. In the mid 1800s, Newtown had more button shops than any other town in the state.

Great Ring Road – Hunters, possibly Indians, formed a great ring here and drove game to the top of the hills where it was killed.

Hattertown Road – Newtown’s third longest town road was where hatting factories were located here in the 19th century.

Philo Curtis Road – Philo Curtis was a Newtown selectman in 1843.

Poorhouse Road – The Newtown-Danbury poor house was built here in 1842 at a cost of $600.

Shut Road – This road was once a through street but was later closed off and called Shut Road.

Still Hill and Toddy Hill Roads – Legend tells of a still located on Still Hill Road producing spirits that were made into toddies nearby.

Wendover Road – This road originally bore the name Carcass Lane because of the slaughterhouse located at the end of it. The road name was changed to its present name by an 8-7 neighborhood vote in the 1940s.

        Source: Newtown Past and Present by the Newtown League of Women Voters