The year was 1803. Thomas Jefferson was in the White House. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States.
And — nearly 180 years ago — Westport did not even have a legitimate Main Street.
The other day, Morley Boyd and Wendy Crowther were in the Westport Library, researching our town’s stone bridges. They stumbled on a remarkable map — one that even they, despite their years as diligent historians, had never seen.
They note that while Elm Street and Avery Place are connected close to the river, Main Street is still just a “proposed road” (outlined with dashes, left side of the map).
Myrtle Avenue was part of the “King’s Highway.” There were just a scattering of houses throughout the area.
The forerunner of what later became the Westport Hotel — at the corner of State Street (Post Road) and Main Street — was called the Nichols Hotel.
That makes sense. The village on the map was still “Saugatuck.” It would not become “Westport” until 1835.
That’s another 32 years, 4 presidents, and 7 states admitted to the union later.
(“06880” has been around far fewer years than Westport. But since our founding in 2009, we’ve never missed a day of posting. Please click here to help us continue our work. Thank you!)
