|
|
|
|
Click on photos to enlarge:
History: The "Slab" is the site of the former Sponge Rubber plant that perished in a spectacular case of arson in 1975. During the 1990's the City of Shelton acquired the land via eminent domain for Enterprise and Commerce Park. Using 2.6 millions dollars in state grants, the City built the River Walk and cleaned up pollution from the site with the understanding that it would be turned into an industrial-commercial development. However, the temporary green proved to be so popular as a park that by 2005 City and State officials were persuaded to preserve the park "as is", although this required Governor Rell to sign a special bill. But the Slab has a colorful history going back as far as the Pootatuck Indian village that was once located here. The unfortunate Pootatucks, a subtribe of the Paugussetts, were under constant threat from other natives in the area and hoped that European settlers might offer protection. Instead, most of them died of European diseases. In 1904, Indian burial grounds from the 1640's were found along Canal and Cornell Streets in which large numbers of people of all ages were buried in rows five feet apart. Some of their remains are kept at Yale. In 1673 the survivors abandoned their village to the colonists and built Hill Fort at what is now Riverview Park, only to be forced farther up the river in 1684. The colonists called this location along the river Huntington Landing. The river at that time was very deep with a strong current, and boats of 95 tons could load and unload here. By 1700 there was a warehouse, wharf (as in "Wharf Street"), and old shipyard. In 1871 the Ousatonic Dam and canal were constructed and heavy industry all along the canal soon followed. The canal (as in "Canal Street") provided power to the factories. Twenty years later the dam was breached and the factories were flooded with ice and water. But the dam was soon repaired.
During the 1960's the B.F. Goodrich Company, which later became the Sponge Rubber Products Company, was the largest employer in the Valley with more than 2300 workers. The FBI called the 1975 fire that destroyed the plant the "biggest arson case we've ever investigated." They determined that the plant owner had set the fire to collect the insurance. Although no one was killed by the fire, 1200 jobs were lost. After the fire and removal of debris, the vast concrete floor of the factory - known as the "Slab" - was all that remained for many years. The future: Although the walk is very short at this time, in 2005 the City of Shelton received a sizeable grant to extend the walk to the Ousatonic (Derby-Shelton) Dam (click on map below). After the path is extended it might be possible to connect to Riverview Trail at Riverview Park.
MAP: Future River Walk route (approximate). Click to enlarge. Note - you can actually walk now along Canal Street to the dam. It is entirely public, including the area around the dam, which is rather nice.Update Dec 2007 - Plans for the Riverwalk Extension are underway. See preliminary plans as of Dec 2007 (large 6meg pdf file). The walk would extended north from it's current location near the Farmer's Market downtown to the locks at the end of Canal Street. Hopefully the walk can be routed along the shoreline, although there are serious physical challenges (translate that to "expensive"). The City was previously awarded a major grant to build the path. On the downside, the owners of the hydroelectric plant at the Derby-Shelton dam have received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to fill in the historic Shelton Canal, which was to be the destination for the Riverwalk. We hope the canal can be saved. See photos of the canal.
Note: Historical info & pictures come from the book "A Pictorial History of Shelton, Connecticut."
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Directions
& Parking: Click for
