Community Corner

Hidden Gems Of Hartford And Tolland Counties

Ever notice The Notch of Connecticut on the map? It has a storied history.

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The Notch is located at the Center of Connecticut's northern border.
The Notch is located at the Center of Connecticut's northern border. (Google Maps)

GRANBY, CT — This week's trek to a Hidden Gem in Hartford and Tolland counties takes us right smack in the middle of Connecticut's northern border and what appears to be an anomaly on the map.

You've probably seen it, but have you really looked at it?

It's not a mistake. Its The Notch.

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It takes travelers, in a sequence from west to east from Granby to Southwick, MA; to Congamond Lakes to Suffield and parts of Connecticut are actually father north that parts of Massachusetts.

It's also called the "Southwick Jog."

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According to the Connecticut State Library, Connecticut's cutout dates back to 1642, when Massachusetts hired two surveyors to detail the border. Connecticut officials disputed one point as being a couple of miles too far south and the argument lasted for the next 60 years because surveyors hired by either Connecticut or Massachusetts set a number of boundaries favorable to the colony that employed them.

To compound the problem, the towns of Enfield, Somers, Suffield and Woodstock, unhappy with Massachusetts' apparent high taxes, applied for admission into Connecticut in 1724.
The state library points out that, in 1793, following the Revolutionary War, both states appointed boundary commissioners to determine a straight line from Union in Connecticut to the New York state line.

According to the state library, in 1797, the commissioners recommended that a disputed 2.5-square-mile tract be awarded to Massachusetts as compensation for its earlier losses of Suffield, Woodstock, Somers and Enfield to Connecticut. In 1804, Connecticut finally agreed to a compromise that partitioned the 2.5-mile area at Congamond Lakes, with Massachusetts receiving five-eighths of the disputed parcel along the west shore and Connecticut receiving the remainder, along the east shore.

The Connecticut Notch
The Notch is located at the Center of Connecticut's northern border. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)

The origin of what is likely the first decorated Christmas tree in America has a connection to The Notch. The legend dates back to 1777 and the surrender of the British army during the American Revolution, shortly after the loss at Saratoga that fall.

As legend has it (along with the Windsor Locks Historical Society), a group of Hessian soldiers, now POWs, were making their way to a camp near Boston. One of them, Hendrick Roddemore, broke ranks, most likely near The Notch, and wound up holed out on a farm in Windsor Locks owned by Samuel Denslow.

Denslow took a liking to Roddermore and built the Hessian a cabin on his property, where he lived for some time. Accounts indicate that Roddermore set up a holiday tree near the cabin, per his native tradition.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

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