Hitching Posts

Hitching Posts. . , In the 1800's and early 1900's, hitching posts, made of granite, concrete or cast iron, were a very common feature lining city streets. Litchfield was no exception., This hitching post was originally in front of a house located at 718 North State Street. Early occupants of that house were Reverend Charles W. Ross (who was the pastor of the Union Avenue Christian Church from 1911 to 1913) and later Richard V. Carroll and his wife, Lydia, who were co-owners of the Carroll and Son Undertakers and Embalmers. That lot is the block that was later occupied by the House of Sunshine which was built in the 1940s and burned on October 31, 1964, and then Litchfield National Bank Drive In location, which was built in 1972 and sold in 2024. , The hitching posts that were made to look like tree stumps, as this one is, were made at the Litchfield Marble and Granite Works, which was located behind the library on Monroe Street., We are currently aware of 5 other hitching posts that are still intact. Can you find them?, Our thanks to Mike Fleming for donating the hitching post. This sign was made possible through a grant from the Elizabeth S. Baker Trust Fund.