Driving the Original Straits Turnpike: From New Haven To Litchfield

The Straits Turnpike is one of the oldest toll roads in America. Opened in 1800, the new turnpike was built to high standards, replacing a rough colonial road, and it shortened the New Haven to Litchfield journey from almost two days to half a day, enabling wagon and stagecoach traffic for the first time. On this driving tour, you’ll get a sense of the people who built the road, the lives of the local people, and the early industries that sprang up in towns along the route, in less than an hour and a half.

The tour starts near the historic New Haven Green, once home to the meeting house and jail, which has been around since New Haven was founded in 1638. As you drive, you’ll hear how this industrious area fueled the rise of early American manufacturing and sparked the first ”Buy American” movement in the late 1700s and early 1800s. You’ll also find out the history behind the towns you pass, including Woodbridge, Naugatuck, Middlebury, and Morris.

On your way to Litchfield, where our tour ends, you’ll discover how the first horse-drawn trolley line in New Haven paved the way for suburban development.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

• Discover how the three judges who signed King Charles I’s death warrant in the 1640s were hidden from the king's agents
• Enjoy finding out how US mail contracts propelled the stagecoach industry, shaping the region’s transportation history
• Learn about the indigenous Quinnipiac People who lived in the area long before the Dutch and English arrived.
• Pass through Yale University’s campus and hear how this Ivy League school was first founded to educate clergymen and magistrates
• Learn what exactly a turnpike is and what it’s got to do with toll roads
• Hear about the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening
• Understand why General Rochambeaus’ troops, who aided George Washington at Yorktown during the Revolutionary War, helped to reverse the prejudice against Roman Catholics
• Listen to a story about a runaway slave from Georgia who became a businessman in Litchfield

By the end of this driving tour, you’ll have a newfound understanding of life in the 1800's on the route between New Haven and Litchfield. With many anecdotes along the way, you’ll know why the old Straits Turnpike is an important part of Connecticut’s history.