The Last Green Valley

Spring is finally, firmly here. There was some doubt, earlier. Snow in April, chilly temperatures even in May. But we finally had a 90-degree day and the grass and leaves and flowers are booming.

Now that spring is assured and summer on its way, it is time to embrace the wonders of New England. And one of those wonders is very nearby. The Last Green Valley (TLGV) is a geographic area extending along the eastern border of Connecticut and up into Massachusetts. It is so named because it is an oasis within a heavily populated strip of 25 million extending down the eastern seaboard from Boston to Washington, DC. The last green valley.

Viewed on a map of nighttime satellite photos, this 1,100 square mile area appears as a dark ribbon parallel to the western border of Rhode Island. Dark, quiet, peaceful at night, and full of exploratory opportunities by day.

According to the National Park Service, “The region is 1,100 square miles or 707,000 acres with 77% forest and farm lands; 24 state parks and forests, 6 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Control facilities, and hundreds of miles of trails. The region’s history is diverse including significant archaeological sites and cultural stories from the Early American, Native American, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. TLGV includes 43 historic town commons and greens and more than 100 historic sites and museums open to the public.” The United States Congress has recognized this prized area as a National Historic Corridor, deserving of recognition and protection.

According to the Last Green Valley website, there are 35 towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut included in the region. “The Massachusetts communities are:  Brimfield, Charlton, Dudley, E. Brookfield, Holland, Oxford, Southbridge, Sturbridge, and Webster.  The Connecticut municipalities are:  Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Coventry, Eastford, Franklin, Griswold, Hampton, Killingly, Lebanon, Lisbon, Mansfield, Norwich, Plainfield, Pomfret, Preston, Putnam, Scotland, Sprague, Sterling, Thompson, Union, Voluntown, Windham, and Woodstock.”

What a fabulous resource, and only a bit over an hour from Boston, Providence, Springfield, Worcester, and Hartford. Easy to access, it is bisected by interstate highway 395 between Norwich, Conn., and Worcester, Mass. From east to west, one can access it from U.S. Route 6. By what accident did this bucolic area become and remain so?

The first notable differentiator is that the rivers reaching up into the region from Long Island Sound at New London (Thames, Shetucket, and Quinebaug) are navigable only to Norwich, a distance of 15 miles as the crow flies. This is in great contrast to the Connecticut River which is navigable to Enfield, Conn. (nearly to Springfield, Mass.) To European settlers in the mid-1600s, this made a huge difference. Navigable waters made for easy access.

Another is that while industrialization thrived in Boston and Providence and Hartford, the Quinebaug-Shetucket region provided rich soil and woodlands and remained mostly agrarian.

And finally, in the mid-twentieth century, an attempt to build an interstate highway directly between Hartford and Providence failed. One of the few failures in the country (another was in Kansas City), this inadvertently assured the survival of many towns and shops and restaurants and inns and all the attendant pleasures of small-town life.

So if you have been unaware of this local treasure, you might want to plan some summer-time activities. Antiquing. Astronomy/night sky views. Bicycling. Boating and fishing. Camping. Golf. Hiking. Canoeing/kayaking. And much, much more.

A wealth of resources may be found at the Last Green Valley organization, http://thelastgreenvalley.org and at the National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/qush.

This is a national resource which we in New England are fortunate to have nearby. Please avail yourself of its treasures and pleasures.