CTMQ

Destroying the myth that there is nothing to do here

green mountain modern house
  • CTMQ’s Town Guides
    • Town Completion Celebrations
  • Museums
    • Museum Visits
  • Hikes, Bikes, & Paddles
    • CFPA Trails & Blue Trails Challenge
    • State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
    • Land Trust Trails
    • Town Trails
    • Audubon, Nature Conservancy, RWA, and US Army Corps of Engineers Trails
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Cycling, Multi-Use, & Rails-to-Trails Paths
    • Water Trails
  • Food & Drink
    • Best, Historic, & Unique Restaurants & Foods
    • Classic Diners & True Taverns
    • Homemade Ice Cream, Cheese, & Chocolate Trails
    • Breweries, Brewpubs, & Cideries
    • Wineries & Meaderies
    • Distilleries
  • Everything Else
    • National Designations
    • Firsts, Onlies, Oldests, Largests, Longests, Mosts, Smallests, & Bests
    • Geography
    • Animals, Farms, Gardens, Plants, Trees, Rocks, Waterfalls, & Caves
    • Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events
    • Houses, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, Businesses, & Theaters
    • Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries
    • Religion, Remembrances, Statuary, & Outdoor Art
    • Cultural, Heritage, & Historic Trails
    • CT Books, Movies, People, & Stories
  • Non-CT
    • Travel & Vacations
    • World Soccer Stadium Tour
    • Highpointing & Peakbagging
    • Books & Reading Challenges (Gone)
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Family
    • Smith-Magenis Syndrome
    • Press
CTMQ > Firsts Onlies and Oldests

The Kensington Soldiers’ Monument

September 21, 2021 by Steve 4 Comments

The Berlin Tall The Oldest US Civil War Monument, Berlin Here we are again, at another "oldest in the US" that isn't truly totally verifiable. Although in the case of the Kensington Soldiers' Monument in Berlin, the locals did convince the federal whomevers at the National Register of Historic Places that the claim … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, New Post, Religion, Cemeteries, Monuments, Statuary, Greens, & Outdoor Sculpture & Art, Superlatives Tagged With: Berlin, Dubious Claims, Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Monuments and Plaques

NHL: USS Nautilus

August 30, 2021 by Steve Leave a Comment

CT National Historic Landmark USS Nautilus Groton Naming ships Nautilus goes back to Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I loved that story as a kid and loved reading it with my son again a few years ago. Even so, when I hear Nautilus, I now think of Connecticut's own special naval submarine, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, National "Stuff", New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Groton, National Historic Landmarks, Ships & Boats & Submarines

Cheney Silk Vaults

March 15, 2021 by Steve 1 Comment

The Chene Gang The Cheney Silk Vaults Manchester I've written fairly extensively about various buildings within Manchester's Cheney Brothers Historic District and I thought I was done with it. Then Calvin and I rode the full Cheney Rail Trail which took us right into the heart of the historic mills and out to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, Houses, Communities, Libraries, & Businesses, National "Stuff", New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: cheney Brothers historic district, Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Manchester, manchester historical society

Book Review: American Cookery

March 14, 2021 by Steve Leave a Comment

American Cookery, Amelia Simmons (1796) I can be moderately proud that I've written about many, many hundreds of things for this site that previously had no internet presence. Every so often, though, I'm tasked to write about something that has been described, poked, prodded, and probed dozens of times over many … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Movies, People, & Stories, Everything Else, New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: Connecticut Books, Connecticut Travel Guides & Cookbooks, Firsts Onlies and Oldests

NCLT: Firefly Sanctuary

March 4, 2021 by Steve Leave a Comment

Marvin, Massarella, & Friends Firefly Sanctuary New Canaan Land Trust, New Canaan November 2020 First, let's take a moment to recognize the fact that New Canaan has an active land trust and that they are involved with preserving forests and fields in a town where land is a tad bit expensive. Shout out to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, Land Trust Hikes, New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: Dubious Claims, Firsts Onlies and Oldests, New Canaan, new canaan land trust

The Boat Building

February 14, 2021 by Steve 1 Comment

We're Not Gonna Need a Bigger Boat The World's First Two-Sided Building, Hartford Yes! Another page about another insurance company in Hartford. This isn't a surprise, is it? After all, the capital city laid claim to being the "Insurance Capital of the World" for a century. (While people still say it, I believe … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: Cool Architecture, Dubious Claims, Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Hartford, Modern Architecture

Pitkin Street Tunnel

February 10, 2021 by Steve Leave a Comment

New Haven Underground Pitkin Street Tunnel, New Haven January 2021 You may not think of Connecticut as state with tunnels that matter, but it kind of is. The tunnel through West Rock, called Heroes Tunnel, is the only highway/road tunnel through a land feature in New England. Surprising, right? Connecticut is also … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, New Post, Superlatives, Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries Tagged With: Firsts Onlies and Oldests, New Haven, Roads and Tunnels

New Haven Holocaust Memorial

January 16, 2021 by Steve 1 Comment

First, Oldest, Most Sobering New Haven Holocaust Memorial This isn't a typical CTMQ page in that a) it contains no puns or satirical quips, b) I didn't write most of it, and c) the photography is phenomenal. Okay, c) above is not true and it could be categorized as a satirical quip. I guess I simply can't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, New Post, Religion, Cemeteries, Monuments, Statuary, Greens, & Outdoor Sculpture & Art, Superlatives Tagged With: Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Jewish, New Haven, Statuary

First Copper Mine & Federal/State Prison in US

October 27, 2020 by Steve Leave a Comment

Old Newgate Prison & Copper Mine East Granby If you're reading this sentence and are at all interested in Old Newgate Prison and Copper Mine, you should just go to the page I wrote about our visit to it. Because what you're reading now is a very truncated version of that. First Copper Mine in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, Superlatives Tagged With: East Granby, Firsts Onlies and Oldests

The Hartford Gun Club

October 4, 2020 by Steve 2 Comments

Bangin' The Hartford Gun Club Oldest Gun Club in America, East Granby & Windsor There are very few pages out of the (literally!) thousands here on CTMQ where I don't actually do the thing I'm writing about. This is one of those rare pages and I'm not even a little bit sore about it. Okay, maybe I am a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, Houses, Communities, Libraries, & Businesses, New Post, Superlatives Tagged With: East Granby, Firsts Onlies and Oldests, Other Companies and Businesses, Windsor

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 12
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Facebook

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The Heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

1. Introduction to Middletown

Recent Comments

  • Grant Hayter-Menzies on The Yale Boulder
  • Henry Suski on Tantaquidgeon Museum
  • Caleb on Institute for American Indian Studies Museum
  • Toni on Tantaquidgeon Museum
  • Christine Neal on CTMQ’s Guide to Harwinton
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2026 - CTMQ