1956 Map of South Canaan

About this map

Canaan Mountain dominates this mid-century landscape in the Litchfield hills, where heavy forest cover is interrupted by narrow river valleys and high-elevation waters. The Housatonic River carves the western boundary, supporting the community at Falls Village and the tracks of the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad. This 1956 revision documents a period of academic and recreational land use, featuring the Yale University Forestry School and the winding path of the Appalachian Trail as it crosses Music Mtn and Cobble Hill. Settlement patterns are concentrated in the lower elevations of South Canaan and Cornwall Hollow, while the uplands of the Housatonic State Forest remain largely undeveloped, punctuated only by remote ponds like Wangum Lake and Seldom Seen Pond. Local history is preserved in several small burial grounds, including Under Mountain Cem and Sand Hill Cem.