Our Question Box is once again full.
Here are the latest answers — to the best of my ability, anyway. I’m stumped by many of these queries. So readers: Please chime in with any additional information. Click “Comments” below.
And if you’ve got a question for our box, just email dwoog@optonline.net.
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Where does the name “Compo” come from? (Art Hayes)
What a great, basic question!
Compo (“Compaug”) means “bear’s fishing ground.” It’s a Native American name, from the early Paugussett tribe.
it’s been a while since a bear went fishing at Compo. But that’s where the name of the beach comes from.
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A recent photo showing the “bridge to nowhere” off Parker Harding Plaza started the wheels of memory turning. Was it there in the late 1960s? (Susan Hopkins, Elizabeth, Colorado)
Westport’s favorite bridge to nowhere: Parker Harding Plaza (Photo/June Rose Whittaker)
Another excellent question! It was built — I believe — in the early 1970s. I’m not sure, however, who sponsored it, or why.
If any readers have the back story, let us know!
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What’s up with the missing/deactivated blinking yellow traffic lights at the Westport Fire Department’s headquarters on Post Road East?
Formerly, 2 cables held 2 blinking lights each. They turned red to stop traffic in all directions when fire trucks exited the station.
A few months ago, the cable that held the pair of blinkers facing eastbound traffic lay on the ground opposite the fire station. Did the cable break? Were the lights removed on purpose? The cable holding the 2 lights facing westbound traffic are still in place, but deactivated. (Wendy Crowther)
Deputy chief Michael Kronick says: “The computer that controls the light died earlier this year. We have contacted a vendor to replace and upgrade the system.
Unfortunately, the computer is on back order because of the worldwide microprocessor order. We have no timeline for when the controls will be available.”
Fire headquarters, near the (now-non-) blinking lights.
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From time to time, we see wildlife with tags like the one below. Who tags them — and why? (Gail Berritt)
(Photo/Gail Berritt)
I’ll pass this one of to our wildlife experts. Click comments below, please!
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A recent posting on Facebook about Carvel elicited plenty of likes and comments. But no one seems to know when it opened. Do you? (Fred Cantor)
Nope! But you and I both remember it from our high school days in the 1970s. And I remember it from earlier — with a huge ice cream cone on the top of the building. That’s been long gone, victim of either a hurricane or zoning regulation, no doubt.
There must be former Carvel employees out there who know when the ice cream stand — one of the longest-running businesses in Westport — first opened. Let us know!
Iconic Westport.
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Have a question for the Question Box? Email dwoog@optonline.net.