Hidden Gems Of Connecticut

GREENWICH, CT — The trek to a Connecticut Hidden Gem on the long Fourth of July weekend for the year 2020 takes us back to the far southwest corner of the state and the year 1779.

There stands a monument that marks the spot of Gen. Israel Putnam's daring escape from British soldiers.

The spot is known Locally as Put's Hill and is on U.S. Route 1 (originally King's Highway) in the center Of Greenwich, known by the address of Putnam Avenue.

Gen. Putnam is considered a Revolutionary War hero who, in 1779, evaded pursuing British soldiers by riding from Knapp's Tavern down the steep hill to Stamford where he alerted the militia.

Stone steps are on the spot, along with a stone marker.

The local historical society tells us that Gen. Putnam’s military feats are honored not only by naming of Putnam Avenue, Putnam Cottage (Knapp’s Tavern), and Putnam Hill Park, but on the seal of the Town of Greenwich and the Greenwich Police Department patch.

The Putnam Hill Historic District joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. One irony was that, in the 1970s, cumbersome real-wheel-drive cars would drive the police crazy by getting stuck during snowstorms trying to travel up Put's Hill.

The general seemed to have an easier time of it, two hundred years earlier, on horseback, albeit in the opporite direction.

(Herman Dehnel)

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located in Connecticut.