Wolcott History – Resources

When doing investigation into things about Wolcott there are a number of resources available to you on the Internet.  While I’m sure that there are others that I have not yet encountered, here are some of the ones that I like.

Map Mashup - http://magic.lib.uconn.edu/mash_up/1934.html

In 1934 Fairchild produced an aerial survey of Connecticut.  This mashup has a side-by-side view of that survey together with a current satellite image from Google.  Just start with a search of Wolcott and then scroll around or zoom in (the two maps will automatically synchronize).  Some of the interesting features to me are (1) Route 69 did not yet exist in 1934, it was constructed a few years later, and (2) if you look closely you can see the “scar” in the 1934 image of where Boundline Road was back in colonial days – note the vertical line that runs all the way up past Fall Mountain Lake.  This was the boundary between Waterbury and Farmington and why Wolcott was called Farmingbury.

Wolcott Historical Society - http://www.wolcotthistory.org/

There are a variety of resources here – click on the “History” link on the left side.  Besides all the interesting articles, there are maps of Wolcott dating back all the way to 1868, information on the old one-room schools, cemeteries, etc.  New articles are being added each month, but there is so much already here that it will take you quite a while to go through it.

Geographic and Property Information - http://wolcott.mapxpress.net/ags_map/

This map has all the property boundaries for the town.  You can overlay either a 2006 aerial survey, or the property boundaries, get bird’s eye views of individual parcels, etc.  You can get lost in this one and have the hours fly by if you’re not careful.

Wolcott Land Conservation Trust - http://www.wolcottlandct.org/

This organization is devoted to preserving the land in the town.  They own over 100 acres, from Hitchcock Lake to the Russell Preserve (part of my parent’s property) to small 1/3 acre parcels.  They are in the process of building this new website and developing landing pages for the various properties.  So far they’ve documented the history of Hitchcock Lake and the Finch Brook Preserve, but others are in the works, so check back from time to time.

Cemeteries and Grave Sites - http://www.findagrave.com/

Many of the cemeteries and grave sites in the world can be found here, including the cemeteries in Wolcott.  Click on “Search for a cemetery” on the right hand side, then begin your search.  The cemeteries in Wolcott are:

·         Center Cemetery (20 graves) – this is the same place as Edgewood Cemetery, but for some reason these graves are listed separately

·         Edgewood Cemetery (1527 graves) – the large cemetery near the center of town

·         Northeast Burying Ground (99 graves) – off of Beecher Road

·         Pike’s Hill Burying Ground (6 graves) – in the woods not far from Northeast Burying Ground

·         South East Burying Ground (60 graves) – near the Southington Reservoir

·         Saint Maria Goretti Church Memorial Garden (2 graves) – yes, there are graves here too!

Town of Wolcott – http://wolcottct.org/

This is the main website for the town.  There is a lot of government information here, but some that might be of interest is not obvious.  In particular, you can view the property assessment for any property in town.  That link is located under Town Departments / Assessor, but if you want to get to it directly, the link is http://gis.vgsi.com/WolcottCT/.  For each property you can see not only the tax information, but a picture of the home, outline and size, and lots of other interesting information.

If you have any other interesting links, let me know.