1934

Before Google launched satellites so they could watch me sunbathing in my backyard, Connecticut had complete statewide aerial photos from 1934. Because the number of satellites sailing high overhead began to pile up over my backyard, and because of the risk of satellites colliding, I gave up sunbathing.

When I first viewed the 1934 photos of our homestead, I was surprised to see a baseball field across the street from us, next to the railroad tracks.
Also, the land had few trees and there were a number of houses along the river,and like the baseball field, they disappeared long ago.
Our house was not built for another 32 years, so a red star marks the spot.

Now I needed to know more about the baseball fields. I found a article online about The History of Windham Technical High School. A gentleman that attended the school in the 1950s recalled the athletic fields down in the Ridges section of Mansfield, across the railroad lines and adjacent to the Willimantic River. The fields, donated by the Trade School's first director, Otto Nyffler, were still in partial use during the 1950s.

The images from 1934 and 1965 are available online from the Connecticut State Library. Be careful, because their website can become addictive to history buffs.

Below are images from 1934 and 2006