HISTORY

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=130 BGCOLOR="#003300" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><B>Cannon Square Project</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Bookman Old Style" ><B>  </B></FONT><B> </B><A HREF="id115.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SVIA Cannon Square Project"><U><B>Home Page</B></U></A></div> <div> Stonington Village Improvement Association -- SVIA</div> <div> HISTORY   |   <A HREF="id117.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BEFORE PICTURES"><U>BEFORE PICTURES</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id120.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STATUS"><U>STATUS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id124.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NEW PHOTOS"><U>NEW PHOTOS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id125.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IN THE NEWS"><U>IN THE NEWS</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=350 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><U>HISTORY</U></B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="10" CELLPADDING="4" CELLSPACING="4" WIDTH="710" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#003300" BORDERCOLORDARK="#003300" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF HEIGHT= 3852 WIDTH="672"><div> <I><B>After conducting a survey of all registered voters in the Borough, the Stonington Village Improvement Association (SVIA) began to research the possibility of a jointly-sponsored restoration project to bring our beloved Cannon Square back up to pristine condition and in compliance with its historic beginning. </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>This page contains the history of Cannon Square and the cannons; as researched by Jim Boylan of the Stonington Historical Society </B></I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>CANNON SQUARE</B></div> <div> (Formerly Town Square)</div> <div> Created in 1750</div> <div> Landing for Stonington-Port</div> <div> Site of Great Fires of 1836 and 1837</div> <bR> <div> Cannon Square is the oldest defined site in Stonington Borough, or Long Point, as it was first known. It first appeared in the records in 1750 - before, as far as we know, any houses were built on the point -- as the southern end of a surveyed road out to Preston, to permit farmers to haul produce for the coastal trade and the West Indies, in exchange for rum and molasses. The shore then lay much closer to the square and it thus became the “town landing.”</div> <div> Actually, its history may extend back farther. The land that became the Borough, owned by Elihu Chesebrough, is usually described as pasture, but in 1750 the county surveyor found both an existing warehouse and an existing path, which “hath been used for many years as a way from [the] Harbor to the North meeting house.” There may have been informal settlement before the Borough history we know. The possibility of earlier artifacts makes it desirable to conduct an archeological scan, since it may be many years before the site is opened again.</div> <bR> <div> After Borough settlement began in 1752-53, the square quickly became hub of activity. Chesebrough sold a site on the north side of the square to the Denison family, who ran a tavern no doubt patronized by farmers and sailors, a characteristic Stonington combination of land and sea. Early in the 1800s, Thomas Swan opened the Borough Hotel on south side.  It was visited ted by two sitting presidents   --Monroe and Jackson --  and a vice president who became president - Van Buren. Eventually Stonington-Port, as it was called, had a custom house around the corner, reflecting the busy waterfront -- sealing, whaling, and commerce. the neighborhood was battered during the Battle of Stonington in 1814, and was then destroyed in two fires, at the end of 1836 and early in 1837. (A parsonage on east side of the square burned in a much later fire.) No original building is now left. The oldest is the Ocean Bank, built in 1851.  </div> <bR> <div> It was generally called Town Square until some time after 1876, the year Congress, after a petition, gave the 1814 cannons to the Borough, which  displayed them in the square and changed the name to Cannon Square. At a later time, a memorial plinth listing some of the battle's participants moved there from in front of the old library, at Church and Main. It is topped by an enormously heavy British cannonball. </div> <bR> <div> <B>STONINGTON BOROUGH'S 18-POUNDER CANNONS</B> were cast at Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1781. They defended the Borough against a British naval squadron on August 9-12, 1814, during the War of 1812. In July 1876, following a petition from Borough residents, the cannons and their carriages became the property of the Borough and were moved to the square.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="523804d0.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="333" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> POSTCARD MAILED FROM STONINGTON ON JULY 26, 1909 -- ALMOST IDENTICAL TO CUMMIN RENDERING </div> <bR> <div> <B>More Old Pictures</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="4cf80070.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="519" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The oldest known photo of Cannon Square, taken in 1897      <B>      </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#003300" FACE="Book Antiqua" >Notice the relatively flat lawn, no fence and easy access.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="4c780dc0.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="476" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> This picture, showing a virtual forest of mostly pine trees, indicating the lack of a professionally designed landscaping plan.</div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="4c680de0.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="478" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> This picture, with just a few scrubby looking tress, is apparently the oldest picture that includes the birdbath.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U><IMG SRC="4a8808e0.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="398" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></B></div> <div> This picture, a 1907 postcard, illustrates a square that is quite similar to the current Peter Cummin rendering.  It features a relatively level lawn, five or six  hardwood trees and no fence.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>To contribute to this project, make your check payable to SVIA and mail to Cannon Square Restoration Fund, Stonington Village Improvement Association, PO Box 18, Stonington, CT 06378</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Jim Hicks, President of SVIA</B></div> <div> <B>860-535-2212  --  </B><A HREF="mailto: president@sviastonington.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto: president@sviastonington.org"><U><B>president@sviastonington.org</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.sviastonington.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.sviastonington.org"><U><B>SVIA Website Home Page</B></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>