Suffield 350th Anniversary Edition

Suffield Trivia

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  1. The King House has an extensive collection of Suffield postcards donated by Lester Smith. American postcards were first in print around 1873. The “Golden Age of American postcards” peaked in 1910 but ended by 1915, although postcards are still sent from vacation destinations. Postcards were, at first, mostly printed by
    a. Advertising firms
    b. Banks
    c. The U.S. Post Office
  2. Joseph Eastman, an original proprietor of Suffield, secured rights to peel bark on Feather Street (East Street). For what purpose did he use the bark?
    a. To make canoes
    b. As a check on bug infestations for timber used for sailing masts
    c. To extract tannins, used in making leather
  3. The names of streets in the Hatheway Farms development (Abraham Terrace, Oliver Trail, Hatheway Drive, Daniel Circle, Emma Place, Charles Court and Elizabeth Lane) are connected by a common thread. What is it?
    a. They are connected with the Phelps Hatheway House.
    b. They are names of Suffield’s original proprietors.
    c. They are the names of the developer’s children
  4. The Suffield branch line railroad which ran from Windsor Locks with stops at Mather Street, South Street and Depot Street (Mountain Road) began in 1870 but passenger service was closed after about forty years. When was the freight service on the line closed?
    a. 1960
    b. 1983
    c. 1998
  5. Soon after Bradley Field opened, a railroad branch line was added to service companies along Route 75. Is it still in operation?
    a. Yes
    b. No
  6. The Seven River Tribes of Native Americans inhabited and hunted in the Central Valley, a region which includes Suffield, when colonists arrived. These tribes were part of what Native American language group?
    a. Iroquois
    b. Siouan
    c. Algonquian
  7. Through much of its existence, the Terrett House, located on South Grand Street in West Suffield, was a tavern and hotel. It was also the site of a murder in 1862. The bar from the tavern was removed and now resides in
    a. The Town Hall
    b. Academy Hall
    c. Brewster Hall, Suffield Academy
  8. What is Suffield’s connection to the towns of Poland, Maine and China, Maine?
    a. After building a spa hotel near the spring water on what is now called Pool Road, Suffield brothers Ebenezer Jr. and Fidelio King expanded their enterprise by building spa hotels in China and Poland.
    b. The towns were named after titles of hymns written by Suffield’s Timothy Swan.
    c. John Pynchon, who founded Suffield, founded China and Poland, too.
  9. The Connecticut River Valley and Suffield had pingos. What are they?
    a. A rare bird whose song sounds like “ping”
    b. A dome-shaped hill
    c. A small dinosaur much like a velociraptor
  10. The Metacomet Ridge neatly divides Connecticut in the middle, from Branford to Suffield. It was called the Great Wall during colonial times as it formed a nearly impassable barrier between the New Haven and Hartford colonies. Its cliffs, made of traprock, are unique features of the Connecticut landscape and the largest in the world. What is traprock?
    a. Granite
    b. Volcanic basalt
    c. Sandstone
  11. c. The U.S. Post Office
  12. c. To extract tannins, used in making leather
  13. a. They are connected to the Phelps Hatheway House. Hatheway Farms is sited on the property which once belonged to the house. Abraham Burbank bought the property in 1736. Oliver Phelps bought the house in 1788 and subsequently added to it. Asahel Hatheway bought the house in 1810 when Phelps was in financial straits. Daniel Carrington bought the house from Asahel’s heirs in 1914 but sold it in 1924 to Sumner Fuller who died from pneumonia purportedly from stripping paint in the cold house. He willed the house to Charles S. Fuller, his nephew, with life use of the house to Sumner’s mother Emma who lived in her own house across the street during the winters and summered in the Phelps Hatheway House until her death in 1956. Upon the death of Charles, the house was willed to Charles’ sisters. Elizabeth, one of the sisters, persuaded the other to donate the house to the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society now Connecticut Landmarks. (Thanks to Anne Borg)
  14. c. 1998
  15. a. Yes
  16. c. Algonquian
  17. b. Academy Hall
  18. b. The towns were named after titles of hymns written by Suffield’s Timothy Swan.
  19. b. A dome-shaped hill similar to frost heaves. Actually, Suffield has pingo scars which are collapsed pingos. After the glaciers retreated, the area remained cold much like the arctic tundra where the soil remains frozen. The pressure of the freezing groundwater pushes up the frozen soil to form a pingo. When the climate warms, the dome collapses creating a pingo scar. Many collapsed pingos become vernal pools. In a biodiversity study undertaken around 2003, 700 vernal pools were discovered in Suffield.
  20. b. Volcanic basalt

Answers

  1. c. The U.S. Post Office
  2. c. To extract tannins, used in making leather
  3. a. They are connected to the Phelps Hatheway House. Hatheway Farms is sited on the property which once belonged to the house. Abraham Burbank bought the property in 1736. Oliver Phelps bought the house in 1788 and subsequently added to it. Asahel Hatheway bought the house in 1810 when Phelps was in financial straits. Daniel Carrington bought the house from Asahel’s heirs in 1914 but sold it in 1924 to Sumner Fuller who died from pneumonia purportedly from stripping paint in the cold house. He willed the house to Charles S. Fuller, his nephew, with life use of the house to Sumner’s mother Emma who lived in her own house across the street during the winters and summered in the Phelps Hatheway House until her death in 1956. Upon the death of Charles, the house was willed to Charles’ sisters. Elizabeth, one of the sisters, persuaded the other to donate the house to the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society now Connecticut Landmarks. (Thanks to Anne Borg)
  4. c. 1998
  5. a. Yes
  6. c. Algonquian
  7. b. Academy Hall
  8. b. The towns were named after titles of hymns written by Suffield’s Timothy Swan.
  9. b. A dome-shaped hill similar to frost heaves. Actually, Suffield has pingo scars which are collapsed pingos. After the glaciers retreated, the area remained cold much like the arctic tundra where the soil remains frozen. The pressure of the freezing groundwater pushes up the frozen soil to form a pingo. When the climate warms, the dome collapses creating a pingo scar. Many collapsed pingos become vernal pools. In a biodiversity study undertaken around 2003, 700 vernal pools were discovered in Suffield.
  10. b. Volcanic basalt

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