I’ve always been fascinated by what Westport looked like before I-95 (known then as the Connecticut Turnpike or “the thruway”) came through in the mid-1950s.
Now I’ve seen some tantalizing glimpses.
Cliff Cuseo posted a 7 1/2-minute video on Facebook. It’s a digitized (in color!) version of home movies, taken at various points during construction.
The opening shots look vaguely familiar, but I can’t place them. Perhaps they’re part of Saugatuck — near Exit 17? — that has since been demolished, to make way for the road.
Where was this taken?
But — in addition to showing work on the Saugatuck River bridge and the road itself — there are glimpses of Riverside Avenue (including the long-gone Gault oil tanks), and the Hales Road/Greens Farms area.
Riverside Avenue, and the Gault tanks. The Bridge Street (now Cribari) Bridge is at top left.
Construction near Greens Farms Road, and the new Hales Road bridge.
There’s also the aftermath of a scary truck accident, on what seems like a lunar landscape.
Truck accident.
The movie captures scenes we take for granted today, in a unique way. But I’d still love to see film of Saugatuck — that thriving, compact and close-knit village — before the earth-movers arrived.
Click here for the full video.
The Saugatuck River bridge, before completion.
(Hat tip: Don Willmott)