Stratford: The Stories We Tell
By David Wright
Town Historian
You may be surprised to learn that Stratford has 41 parks and open spaces. While we may not be “the” park city, we certainly qualify as “a” park city. From the looks of things as they presently stand, Stratford will be adding a 42nd park to its inventory when the Town officially takes possession of the Stratford Point Lighthouse. The Town’s parks range in size from a few square feet (Postal Marker on Elm Street) to about 420 acres (Roosevelt Forest).
Each of our parks has its own unique, and in many cases, unusual history. Wooster Pond and Park, located on Freeman Avenue at Quail Street, has a particularly unique origin story. The State of Connecticut had a plan in July, 1934, to extend the Merritt Parkway running parallel to Nichols Avenue, terminating at Barnum Avenue. The plan included extending Barnum Avenue to Ferry Boulevard, as the Barnum Avenue Extension had not yet been built.
The State bought property along Nichols Avenue to create the expanded Parkway. When the Town Council and town residents vigorously rejected the State’s plan, a new plan was subsequently proffered. That plan extended the Merritt Parkway over the Housatonic River and connected it to a yet to be constructed extension of the Parkway which, today, we call the Wilbur Cross Parkway.
Following the rejection of the Parkway plan that extended the Parkway down Nichols, the State had no use for the property it had purchased for that purpose. One surplus piece of property was what today is known as Wooster Park. In May of 1939, the State turned the 40 acres of today’s Wooster Park over to the State Board of Fisheries and Game for a State Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Bridgeport Post
May 21, 1939
As Wildlife Sanctuary Becomes Reality in Stratford
..Mrs. Charles A. Sawyer, chairman of the Conservation Committee of the (Stratford) Garden Club, whose backyard abuts the tract, contacted Mr. (A. Earl) Wood (engineer of roadside development for the State), following a visit to New Canaan and Fairfield sanctuaries, with the suggestion of converting the property into a similar project for the particular benefit of residents of Stratford and nearby communities.
…This week she was notified by the Fish and Game Commission that her vision of a future for the property would become an actuality. The Commission plans to post the land with Sanctuary posters, and give it such patrol that the posted admissions will be followed.
…”Not only will this sanctuary be a welcome and much needed refuge for birds,” Mrs. Sawyer says, “but residents of Stratford and Bridgeport will no longer have to drive miles in the country to find a long walk through the woods, and it will be a long walk through the woods when the trails through the 40 acres are completed.”
You might suppose that this would have been the end of the store and the park would be saved in perpetuity for public access. In July of 1967, however, that very nearly was not the case. The Town wished to create a community college and locate it at Wooster Junior High. Wooster Park was to be cleared to create parking for the yet to be created Housatonic Community College.
That Wooster plan was not accepted, and Housatonic Community College was initially opened at Bunnell High School.
Bruce Brook, which runs through the Park, was eventually dammed, creating today’s beautiful and beloved Wooster Pond.
