The Green

The Green. . , In 1659 the Mohegan chief Uncas sold to settlers led by Major John Mason and the Reverend James Fitch “nine miles square”, part of which became Norwich., According to Francis M. Caulkins’s history of Norwich, “At the end of the first century … the church no longer necessary as a look-out post of the town, came down from the hill, and took its position at the corner of the Green … the place where trades, merchandise, public business, military exercises, shows, sports, festivals, and the general entertainment of the town, found a center.” , , The County Jail stood on the north side at the foot of the hill; the Court-House was in the open area; the Post Office not far from the meeting-house … taverns, schools and shops alternating with private dwellings around the border.”, Opposition to British rule increased over the next few years and the residents erected Liberty Tree, “a lofty pole … decked with standards and appropriate devices … Here, almost daily, people assembled to hear the news, make speeches, and encourage each other in thre determination to resist all oppression.”