A History Of

Connecticut’s State Parks

There are more than 90 state parks in Connecticut, and on Monday, February 11, at 7:30 pm, in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, Newtown Historical Society will host a program by Joseph Leary, who has visited 94 of Connecticut’s parks.

“The state enjoys an amazing diversity of terrain and biology that puts much larger states to shame,” said Mr Leary. “Between our mountains, beaches, pine barrens, exotic bogs, rivers and deep forests, there are myriad recreational choices.”

Almost every park has running water in the form of ponds, lakes, streams, oceans, and many have cultural and historical importance as well. Mr Leary will take the audience on an overview of these treasured state resources, giving his first-hand descriptions stemming from his personal explorations, and telling the difference between the parks and other state resources such as state forests and greenways.

According to Mr Leary: “The concept of a park is almost as American as the country. When laying out what would become Boston, the first thing our Puritan ancestors did was to reserve a central park for the common use of all the colonists. The Revolutionary War was still a century and a half in the future, but the American park began as a refuge for the citizenry, not for the king.”

Joe Leary has hiked on four continents, and has hiked through 700 miles in Connecticut alone. In addition to the state parks, he has visited 30 state forests and three greenways. By trade he is a photojournalist, and a producer-director of video and film, so he looks at the scenery from a very solid viewpoint.

His Connecticut travels have resulted in a book, A Shared Landscape, A Guide and History of Connecticut’s State Parks and Forests. The book contains much historical information as well as numerous interviews with people he met along the park and forest trails. He will be autographing copies after the presentation.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. The library is at 25 Main Street.

Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For further information, call the historical society at 426-5937.