Hidden Gems of North-Central Connecticut

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — The latest installment of the Hidden Gems series takes us to one of the most famous sermons in history ... well at least to where it originated.

Before early American scholar and minister Jonathan Edwards delivered "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," he was born in what is now South Windsor, at 1371 Main St.

A roadside sign commemorates the spot. Travelers beware though ... Main Street isn't as main as it used to be.

Here is a biography, courtesy of Connecticuthistory.org:

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Jonathan Edwards was one of America’s most accomplished intellectuals and theologians. Born in what is today South Windsor, Edwards became a leader of New England’s first Great Awakening. His 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” first heard by throngs of believers in Enfield, is considered one of the most famous and influential ever delivered in the United States. After 25 years of serving as a minister in Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards served at a Native American mission in Stockbridge where he wrote some of his most influential works promoting the Puritan vision of Calvinist orthodoxy. In 1757 he accepted an appointment as president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) but died the following year from complications brought on by a smallpox inoculation. His widely circulated works influenced subsequent generations of reformers, including abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries.

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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. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant