Historical Markers and War Memorials in Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is the county seat for Middlesex County
Middletown is in Middlesex County
Middlesex County(166) ► ADJACENT TO MIDDLESEX COUNTY Hartford County(503) ► New Haven County(377) ► New London County(421) ► Suffolk County, New York(495) ►
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On Washington Street (Connecticut Route 66) at Park Place, on the right when traveling east on Washington Street.
Erected by Members of the 24th Regiment C.V. Citizens of Middletown and State of Connecticut 1904
[ Inscribed in granite on the column ]
Port Hudson
Irish Bend
Baton Rouge
Donaldsonville
2nd Brigade 4th Div
19th Army Corps . . . — — Map (db m24210) HM
On Main Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
Near this spot in 1760 stood Timothy Bigelow's tavern, where travellers and local people gathered to drink rum, trade stories, and oonduct business. In 1776, Bigelow died suddenly, leaving his wife Elizabeth with four children to support. Widow . . . — — Map (db m98602) HM
On St. John’s Square at St. John’s Street, on the right when traveling east on St. John’s Square.
Commodore
Thomas Macdonough
Victor at Lake Champlain
Sept. 11, 1814
Born Dec. 31, 1783 Died Nov. 10, 1825
Buried in Riverside Cemetery
Placed by Wadsworth Chapter D.A.R.
1932 — — Map (db m94209) HM
On Broad Street at Church Street, on the right when traveling north on Broad Street.
Rose Schwartzbuch had been in the United States seven years when she married Harry L. Shapiro in 1911, one of the first weddings to be held at Middletown's newly formed Congregation Adath Israel, then located on Union Street. The bridal couple, . . . — — Map (db m98688) HM
On South Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the left when traveling east on South Main Street.
In 1756, this simple structure was the birthplace of one of New England's leading craft dynasties, the Danforth family of pewterers. For nearly a century, three generations of Danforth men fashioned everything from plain plates to graceful . . . — — Map (db m98550) HM
On deKoven Drive at Washington Street, on the right when traveling south on deKoven Drive.
1782 deKoven House Community Center 1942
Middletown, Connecticut
1748 John Lewis deKoven 1821
Founder
1871 Clarence Seymour Wadsworth 1941
Donor
Dedicated to the deKoven and Wadsworth families who loved this house
and developed . . . — — Map (db m100314) HM
On St. John’s Square at St. John’s Street, on the right when traveling east on St. John’s Square.
north side
In 1639
Mattabeseck
Is First Mentioned in the Records
In 1650
The First English Settlement
Was Made Near This Spot
1n 1653
The General Court Changed the Name to
Middletown
In 1672 and 1673
The Title to the . . . — — Map (db m94206) HM
On Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
“Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the Jubilee.
Hurrah! Hurrah! The flag that makes you free!
Se we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea,
While we were marching through Georgia”
“Marching through Georgia,” by Henry . . . — — Map (db m68012) HM
On Bow Lane at Holmes Drive, on the right when traveling east on Bow Lane.
( south side )
Connecticut
In Honor Of
Our Fallen
Comrades
( upper plaque )
43rd Infantry Division Insignia
March 1923 – September 1997
Units With Lineage to the 43rd
Served in the Following:
Revolutionary War . . . — — Map (db m100091) WM
On Washington Street at Main Street, on the left when traveling east on Washington Street.
This fine post-and-beam house has been home to numerous prominent Middletown figures since it was originally built in the 1750s. In 1777, Jehosaphat Starr, Jr. left this house, his birthplace, to become a Revolutionary War soldier. Within a few . . . — — Map (db m98677) HM
On Bow Lane at Holmes Drive, on the right when traveling east on Bow Lane.
John L. Levitow
Memorial Lane
Dedicated - November 28, 2000
In Memory of:
Sergeant John L. Levitow, U.S. Air Force
Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the
risk of his life . . . — — Map (db m100151) WM
On Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Middletown
The area known as Mattabesett, home of the Wangunk Indian tribe, was settled by English colonists from Hartford and Wethersfield in 1650. Situated at the big bend in the Connecticut River, it was named Middletown because it lay halfway . . . — — Map (db m67814) HM
On Pleasant Street at Main Street, on the left when traveling east on Pleasant Street.
By the end of the Civil War, one of every nine Middletown men wearing the Union uniform was dead. They included young David Lincoln, who gave his life in the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.
More than 900 soldiers and sailors . . . — — Map (db m98603) HM
On Court Street at deKoven Avenue, on the left when traveling east on Court Street.
If you stood here in the late 1700s looking east toward the Connecticut River a forest of ship masts would bob before your eyes. On docks lining the riverside, sailors and merchants bustled back and forth to tall ships which had just arrived in . . . — — Map (db m98549) HM
On Main Street at William Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
( left tablet )
Acaglia Frank T. • Acerboni Ernest A. • Acheson Dean G. • Adamski John • Adamson Ernest L. • Adorno Vincenzo • Agostino Everisto • Ahern Joseph W. • Ahern Maurice J. • Ahlberg Carl A. • Ahlberg Carl L. • Ahlberg Eric A. • . . . — — Map (db m68014) WM
On Main Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
The Wangunks, Native American people, lived here at the great bend in the Connecticut River for countless generations before the first Europeans arrived. The Wangunks called their home Mattabeseck. Here they lived in communities of round-topped . . . — — Map (db m98585) HM
On Main Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
Middletown entered its golden era during the 1700s. By 1750, a century after its settlement, Middletown was the most populous and one of the richest towns in Connecticut.
The town owed its size and prosperity primarily to maritime trade. At . . . — — Map (db m98586) HM
On Main Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
The 1800s brought enormous change to Middletown, transforming its economy, its culture, and the very face of its people.
The changes began in 1807, when hostilities between the United States and Great Britain led Thomas Jefferson to ban . . . — — Map (db m98587) HM
On Main Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
The 20 century transformed Middletown as completely as the previous one had. The stream of immigrants that began in the mid-1800s now became a flood. Between 1900 and 1910, Middletown's population grew from 17,464 to 21,000 – a 20 percent . . . — — Map (db m98588) HM
On Washington Street (Connecticut Route 66) at Veterans Way, on the right on Washington Street.
Korea
1950 1955
Vietnam
1961 1975 Beyond the Far Pacific to the Rim of Asia they went
– Twice in a Generation –
To risk all for Honor and Freedom
[back]
“You Are Not Forgotten”
Sp4 . . . — — Map (db m24208) WM
On Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the left when traveling north on Main Street.
Honor To The Brave
Their Heroic Valor Ensures Our Lasting Peace
Erected By The Town Of Middletown
To The Memory Of Her Fallen Sons
1874
( north face )
Died in service
George Barrett. 1st H Art H June 12 ’61 Philadelphia • John . . . — — Map (db m65484) WM
On Washington Street (Connecticut Route 66) at Veterans Way, on the right when traveling east on Washington Street.
[ West plaque ]
1917 The World War 1918
In Grateful Remberance Of
The Soldiers and Sailors From
Middletown
Who Died in the
Service of Their Country
On These Battlefields
Or on the High Seas
Or by the Pestilence . . . — — Map (db m24206) HM
On Washington Street (Connecticut Route 66) at Veterans Way, on the right when traveling east on Washington Street.
World War II
1941 – 1945
Their devotion and sacrifices
contributed to final victory
Dedicated to the men and women of Middletown
who served in the Armed Forces
of their Country in time of war
[inscribed on the tablet . . . — — Map (db m24205) HM
On Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
Near This Site In 1750
The foundations were laid for Middletowns first Protestant Episcopal Church. This building, completed in 1755, was named Christ Church. The predecessor of the Church of the Holy Trinity.
In this church the Right Reverend . . . — — Map (db m68011) HM
On deKoven Drive at Court Street, on the right when traveling south on deKoven Drive.
This bell was originally part of the clock located in the old city hall tower at 255 Main Street. In 1958, the municipal building was erected at this site.
In a joint venture, the city administration appropriated and various citizens donated . . . — — Map (db m98555) HM
On High Street at Washington Street, on the right when traveling north on High Street.
In 1818, 29-year-old Samuel Russell set sail for Canton, China, to become a merchant in the China trade – and to make his fortune. Within a decade. Russell and Company was a leading firm among American importers, and Samuel Russell was a . . . — — Map (db m98679) HM
On Broad Street at Court Street, on the right when traveling south on Broad Street.
Bbr>Within these brownstone walls, choirs sang hymns, teenagers learned astronomy, and – eventually – Middletown residents of all ages borrowed books.
Although this building has housed the Russell Library for well over a century, it . . . — — Map (db m71116) HM
On St. Johns Square at St. Johns Street, on the right when traveling east on St. Johns Square.
About 1650, a handful of English colonists began settling Middletown – then called by its Native American name, Mattabesseck or Mattabesett. The first colonists did not come directly from England, but from early New England settlements like . . . — — Map (db m98604) HM
On St. Johns Square at St. Johns Street, on the right when traveling west on St. Johns Square.
The potato famine that ravaged Ireland in the late 1840s brought poverty and starvation to the Irish people. To survive, more than a million Irish fled their home coming to America on vessels so crowded and disease-ridden that they were termed . . . — — Map (db m98606) HM
On Broad Street at Washington Street, on the left when traveling north on Broad Street.
Immigrants from Italy settled in Middletown as early as the 1860s, and for several decades the Italian population here increased slowly. Then, at the turn of the 20th century, the trickle of immigrants became a virtual flood. Hundreds of families . . . — — Map (db m98687) HM
On Broad Street at William Street, on the left when traveling south on Broad Street.
On this site, on a spring evening in 1834, a violent mob descended on a small group of Middletown residents who had come together to work towards abolishing slavery. The abolitionists, both black and white citizens, were members of the newly . . . — — Map (db m71118) HM
On Washington Street at deKoven Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Washington Street.
Middletown became of the richest towns in all New England in the 1700s. during that time, thousands of ships loaded with local products like lumber, barrels, horses, pigs, corn, butter, and beef.
The ships sailed down the Connecticut River and . . . — — Map (db m98690) HM
On Cross Street at Warren Street, on the right when traveling east on Cross Street.
About 1828, a handful of Middletown's black residents gathered to worship in the home of Asa Jeffrey, a sea man who lived on Cross Street almost opposite here. The group formed the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Middletown's first black . . . — — Map (db m98689) HM
On Main Street at Old Church Street, on the right when traveling south on Main Street.
The battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day of the Civil War, began early on the morning of September 17, 1862, in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Joseph Mansfield, a 58-year-old general in the Union army, waited anxiously for the signal to lead his ten . . . — — Map (db m98542) HM
On Harbor Drive, 0.3 miles north of Union Street, on the right when traveling north.
Launched in 1994, the International and inter-regional project ‘The Slave Route: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage’ addresses the history of the slave trade and slavery through the prism of intercultural dialogue, a culture of peace and . . . — — Map (db m233446) HM
On Vine Street at Washington Street, on the right when traveling south on Vine Street.
From the peak of the grassy hill behind these gates, Sowheag, leader of the Wangunks, could see for miles, observing the round-topped wigwams of his people in small settlements on both sides of the Connecticut River. The Wangunks called this area . . . — — Map (db m98684) HM
On Washington Terrace at Veterans Way, on the left when traveling east on Washington Terrace.
Each of the maple trees that form the "Road of Remembrance" on Washington Green honor a Middletown soldier or sailor who gave his life in World War I. Middletown citizens planted 33 trees on November 14, 1920 to commemorate the city's fallen sons. . . . — — Map (db m98681) HM
On High Street near William Street, on the right when traveling south.
In 1825, a visitor standing here would have seen a crowd of boys clad in soldiers uniforms, practicing military drills, or racing to their classes. The cadets, as they were called, were students at the new American Literary, Scientific and . . . — — Map (db m98686) HM
On Bow Lane at Holmes Drive, on the right when traveling east on Bow Lane.
In Memory of
William J. Johnston
Dedicated - 2001
Congressional Medal of
Honor Recipient
Private First Class – U.S. Army
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action . . . — — Map (db m100092) WM
