Rivers of America: The Connecticut

The Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years. The Connecticut is a reprint of the 1947 edition with a new introduction bringing the fabled river’s history up to date. The book describes the exploration of the river by Adriaen Block in 1614, the Dutch settlers who followed, and the restless English souls from Plymouth Colony. It describes the towns and cities that formed along its banks, such as Hartford, Springfield, and Holyoke. The small river towns that still preserve the calm serene, and immaculate aspect of two hundred years ago are also profiled, as are the famous colleges that rise from the river’s shore: Dartmouth, Amherst, Smith, Wesleyan, and Trinity.