Putnam Memorial State Park is a history-oriented public recreation area in the town of Redding, Connecticut.[3] The state park preserves the site that Major General Israel Putnam chose as the winter encampment for his men in the winter of 1778/1779 during the American Revolutionary War.[4] It is Connecticut's oldest state park, created in 1887 at the instigation of Redding town residents. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[5]
Preservation of the park grounds was initiated in 1887 when Aaron Treadwell, at the encouragement of Redding historian Charles Burr Todd, sold 12.4 acres to the state for one dollar. In 1955, the Park and Forest Commission took over park management. The park was decommissioned with maintenance performed by local volunteers during most of the 1990s. It reopened under state auspices in 1997.[8][9]
Activities and amenities
Visitor Center: The Visitor Center features informational kiosks about Putnam's life, the encampment, and the park's history. The building was reconstructed in 2005, using much of the material from the original pavilion structure erected in 1893.
Museum: The museum displays artifacts found at the park as well as donated items. The exhibits demonstrate colonial life and honor the men who were stationed here.
Putnam Statue: In 1969 at age 93, the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington donated the equestrian statue of General Israel Putnam which is situated at the entrance to the park. It depicts the horse going down steps. In February 1779, General Putnam escaped a cohort of British Dragoons by riding his horse down 100 stone steps at Horses Neck, Greenwich, Connecticut.[4]
Grounds: There are numerous firebacks, which are the remains of the enlisted soldiers' chimneys, as well as reconstructed replicas of the guard house and an officers' quarters. A 40-foot-tall (12 m) monument commemorates the commanding officers and men who were stationed here. Natural features found in the park include the rock shelter called Philip's Cave and large glacial erratics.[3]
Events: On alternating years, the park hosts a reenactment (every other November) or a ghost walk (every other October). A guided winter walk is held every December. Events are hosted by the organization Friends & Neighbors of Putnam Park.[10]
Media
Music
The site of Putnam's winter encampment is referenced in Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut, the second movement of Three Places in New England by Charles Ives.
^"Appendix A: List of State Parks and Forests"(PDF). State Parks and Forests: Funding. Staff Findings and Recommendations. Connecticut General Assembly. January 23, 2014. p. A-3. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
^ abc"Putnam Memorial State Park". Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
^ abcHubbard, Robert Ernest (2017). Major General Israel Putnam: Hero of the American Revolution. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. pp. 158–64. ISBN978-1-4766-6453-8.
^Constance Luyster, Administrative Trainee, Connecticut Historical Commission (August 3, 1970). "Putnam Memorial State Park". National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. National Park Service. Retrieved May 1, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Cruson, Daniel (2011). Putnam's Revolutionary War Winter Encampment: The History and Archaeology of Putnam Memorial State Park. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press. ISBN978-1609492311.
^"Park History". Friends & Neighbors of Putnam Park. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
