Picture Vernon — Before There Was 84 ...

VERNON, CT — The latest installment of the Picture Vernon series takes us back 70 years on Route 15 westbound at the intersection of Bolton Road.

Today, it is Interstate-84.

The photo from the Vernon Police Department Records Division archives is dated Oct. 12, 1949 and apparently was taken in connection with a traffic accident. A billboard adversing the old Vernon Inn, a short distance way, is visible.

Known as the Wilbur Cross Highway, Route 15 ran from the Massachusetts line to East Hartford, where it became the Wilbur Cross Parkway and then the Merritt Parkway and Hutchinson River Parkway to New York.

There were "twin" service stations, like those on the Merritt Parkway, where the Exit 65 westbound ramp now connects with Route 30 by the Public Works Department, police records show.

____

The Picture Vernon series is a perodic look at images of the town, past and present.