Date of trip: July 5, 2009

Independence Day was noisy and raucous in the city, so we thought a fine way to recover might be to check out the sleepy towns and back roads of northeast Connecticut, sometimes called “the Quiet Corner.” We had a vague destination of Putnam, which our indispensable New England tour book described as a former mill town that reinvented itself as a kind of antique mecca. Antiques do not excite us; we do not “go antiquing.” But I liked the idea of visiting a former mill town that hadn’t turned into a depressing ghost town, like some other places we’ve visited.

We took the turnpike to route 395 and headed south to Putnam, in the opposite direction of last week’s trip to Clinton, which is about the same distance to the north on route 395. Having just visited Clinton the week before, we couldn’t help but compare it to Putnam, two former mill towns, equally distant from the turnpike to the north and south. While Clinton sits on the rim of the Wachusett Reservoir, Putnam straddles the Quinebog River. The Connecticut town’s unassuming brick buildings seemed plain compared to the grand and proud architecture of the town hall and churches surrounding Clinton’s Central Square. But these tall edifices didn’t work in Clinton’s favor; instead, they made the empty town seem all the more unapproachable and unwelcoming.

Clinton was barren and lifeless, while Putnam was busy with shoppers, bikers, and restaurateurs. Traffic was steady through the town center, and music spilled from the restaurants. Instead of the “no trespassing” signs that we saw everywhere in Clinton, we were met with hot dog stands and ice cream trucks. All of this created an atmosphere that made the mostly shabby storefronts seem charming and welcoming. We had lunch as a place called 85 Main, which emphasized local foods. I had the best raw oysters I’ve had in months there.

The river is just outside of the town center. We followed it north for about a quarter of mile (there is a path that you can walk) to find the Quiet Corner Creamery serving homemade ice cream. Just across the road, we saw an old mill along the bank of the river.

Mill on the Quinebog

Next to the creamery (we went with mint chocolate chip) was this abandoned warehouse, which we were pretty taken with.

Industry

After we checked out the mill and the warehouse, we left town and followed the route you can see on the link to Google maps above. The drive was as calm and idyllic as you would hope. One thing I might mention is the number of bikers we saw, pretty much everywhere in the Quiet Corner. They disrupted the quiet, but that’s okay. A nice-looking red Harley sneaked into this picture of a bridge on route 44.

Downtown Crossing