Norwich State Hospital

Preston CT  2014

This was the main building on the grounds of the Norwich State Hospital which has been un-occupied since the early '90's.  Demolition is slow, since it's considered a hazardous waste site.  I've written about the hospital in a previous post.

Norwich City Hall

Norwich, CT  2014

I was driving in Norwich last week and got a little lost.  I turned down a street and it didn't go where I thought it would but it did lead me to this wonderful view of Norwich City Hall.  I have featured this beautiful building in previous posts on this blog, but those views were from street level looking up.

Cemetery

New London, CT  2014

Many of the gravestones cannot be ready anymore.  This is the oldest cemetery in New London and one of the oldest in New England.  The city of New London was founded in 1646 and people were first buried here in 1652.

Old Town Mill

New London, CT 2014

This mill is a little hard to find and seems very out of place tucked away beneath some major overpasses where it is hidden from view.  The founder of New London, John Winthrop Jr built the town's first mill on this site in 1650.  It has been rebuilt many times since then. It was burned when Benedict Arnold's troops burned New London on September 6, 1781.  It became a popular tourist destination in the late 1800's and remained in operation well into the 20th Century.  

Lift Dock Reflections

Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT

Reflected in this photo is  the Hays and Ros Clark Shiplift, completed in mid-2007.  It consists of 8 hoisting winches and has a total lifting capacity of 580 long tons which is more than adequate to lift any of the historic ships in the Seaport's collection out of the water.  Once the ships are lifted out, they can moved ashore on a system of rails to allow long term projects of maintenance and restoration.  I'm sharing this with Weekend Reflections .  Enjoy your weekend and thanks for looking. 

South Battery

Fort Trumbull State Park

New London, CT

The South Battery at Fort Trumbull once contained 6 of these 8"-Rodmans.  I think these are actually more accurately known as 8"-converted rifles which were made from 10"-Rodmans by fitting them with a rifled sleeve.  Shortly after the Civil War, it was less expensive to convert the many 10"-Rodmans that had been made, than to make new and improved artillery.  

North Battery

Fort Trumbull State Park

New London, CT  2014

To defend the fort and the harbor of New London, the army installed 3, 15"-Rodman cannons in the North Battery.  In the mid-19th century these cannons were the most powerful guns in the world, weighing over 50,000 lbs and could fire a 450 lb cannonball or a 350 lb explosive shell.  By the time cannons were installed here in the 1890's, they were just about obsolete.  Today, this is all that remains where these cannons once stood.  I don't believe the cannons were ever fired.

USCGC Chinook

New London, CT 2014

The US Coast Guard Cutter Chinook is home-ported in New London.  She's an 81-foot long Coastal Patrol Boat and has responsibility for all the waters from the Maine-Canada border all the way to New York City.  Her missions include search and rescue,  waterway, coastal and port security as well as living marine resources enforcement.

Blockhouse

Fort Trumbull State Park

New London, CT

This blockhouse is the oldest surviving structure at Fort Trumbull State Park.  It was built in the late 1790's as part of a program authorized by Congress to fortify seaports along the east coast in 1794.  Of all the structures built from Maine to Georgia as part of this program this is the only structure that exists to this day. 

Beer!

Portland, ME

According to the label, it's brewed with spruce tips and honey.  

Cape Cod Sunset

North Falmouth, MA  2014

I need to get out soon an make more images.  A combination of things have kept me in these last couple of weekends so I'm having to look back at images I made months ago that for some reason I never got around to posting.  With winter fast approaching,  this sunset reminds me of the warmer days of summer out on Cape Cod.  

Westerly Reflections

Westerly, RI  2014

I had to look back in my "archives" to find a reflection for this week.  I had processed this image and had marked for posting, but for some reason, I never got around to posting it.  It pays to review old images every now and then.  You never know what you might find, or how you might feel about an image looking at it with fresh eyes.  Please visit Weekend Reflections for other fine reflections from around the world.  Thanks for looking and have a great weekend. 

Untitled

Providence, RI  2014

Crawford Street Bridge

Providence, RI  2014

I could not find a Crawford St on current maps of the city of Providence, so I was wondering why this bridge bore the street's name.  In yet another example of the power of Google and the internet,  a quick search revealed that this bridge was originally built in 1873 and rebuilt in 1930.  At one time this bridge was much wider, being listed in the Guinness Book of world records in 1988 as the widest bridge in the world at 1150 feet.  Sometime later the city decided to narrow the bridge to expose more of the Providence River make more pedestrian-friendly cityscape. 

Providence Sunrise

Providence, RI  2014