1953 Map of Colchester

About this map

Colchester sits at a crossroads of historic travel routes in the early 1950s, where the Hartford Road, New Haven Road, and New London Road converge. This period of development shows a landscape balanced between its colonial-era settlements and modern expansion, evidenced by the clustered village center and outlying hamlets like Exeter and Cherry Corners. The topography is defined by significant water bodies, notably Amston Lake in the north and the elongated Hayward Lake to the south, which are fed by a dense network of streams including Raymond Brook and Cabin Brook. For genealogists, the map is particularly useful for locating family-named crossroads and burial sites, such as St Johns Cem and Linwood Cem. The southern reach of the quadrangle shows the transition into East Haddam and Salem, characterized by wetlands like Dutton Swamp and Whittlesey Swamp that shaped the rural road patterns of New London County.