Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut‘s Beaten Path Mike Allen

One of the oldest gated communities in CT started as the result of Jewish firefighters in Queens, NY wanting to get their children out of the city during a polio outbreak. The firefighters transformed a virgin, 600-acre site by hand into a gorgeous and serene community, featuring what is still one of the most pristine lakes in western CT. Over the years, summer bungalows have been replaced by year-round housing in the Lake Waubeeka community. And, one of the country’s most famous musical legends spent her summers growing up there. The story is told by a professor of Jewish history, a long-time resident, and the author of a book on Lake Waubeeka, Jeffrey Gurock.

When Stalin overthrew the czars in Russia in 1917, many famous Russians made their way to CT, where they created a colony for famous intellectuals. The so-called Russian Village is on the National Register of Historic Places, and it was started by Russian literary giant Ilya Tolstoy, son of famed writer Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace. The Village was started 100 years ago this year. The back story is incredible – especially when told by 92-year-old Natasha Jahrsdoerfer, whose vivid recollections from when she lived there at age 3 paint a world that we will never see again.

Step aside Elon Musk … the first mass-produced electric vehicle wasn’t a TESLA made in California … it was a Columbia Motor Carriage, made in Hartford. And, a critical invention involving rubber developed in Seymour (but not for tires) made it all possible. CT was the nationwide leader in car manufacturing in 1897, when 50% of the cars on the road were powered by electricity (rather than the less than 5% today). How the industries of EVs and rubber came together 130 years ago is told by Joe Iamartino, Chief Technology Officer of the Marmon Electrical Group, owner of the Seymour firm that contributed its technology.

He was a standout pitcher for the Pittsburg Pirates – one of four Pirates pitchers from the same extended family in northwestern Connecticut in the 1960s. Steve Blass, who had the longest and most successful career of the four graduates of Housatonic Valley Regional High School, played his earliest baseball on the Town of Canaan’s Segalla Field – a Field of Dreams style setting. He remains the last National League pitcher to throw a complete 9 innings in the 7th game of a World Series – the 1971 series, in which he pitched two complete games. Only one other human has done that. Hear his incredible story, from Connecticut to Pittsburgh.

There are many newspapers in the U.S. that have a legitimate claim to an impressive publishing legacy. None, however, matches the record of the Hartford Courant. The paper has been publishing continuously for nearly 260 years, making it the longest running newspaper in the entire United States. There’s a lot that goes into putting out a newspaper, and the fact that this streak remains uninterrupted is impressive beyond words. Join in for a discussion about life at the Courant, and its remarkable history, with the paper’s longtime Capitol Bureau Chief Chris Keating.

George Washington made 10 trips through Connecticut during his life – from his younger years to his time commanding the Continental Army, and finally as the first U.S. President. While he traveled through numerous CT communities, there are only about 10 houses still standing where he actually spent at least one night, although there are many more claims about where he stayed. Listen to this episode to separate the fact from fiction and for stories about Washington’s travels through CT – several of them critical to the outcome of the Revolutionary War – from an expert on that period, Dr. Robert Selig.