Air Line Trail State Park & West Thompson Cemetery
In early November 2023, I took a stroll through Air Line Trail State Park in Connecticut and visited West Thompson Cemetery. This easy walk and historic burial ground were a great way to enjoy one of the last warm and sunny days of the year before the winter set in, along with learning about less commonly known local history.
Air Line Trail began its life in 1846 when the state granted a charter to the short-lived New York & Boston Railroad Company. The railroad proposed a line from New York to Willimantic and Putnam that would pass through New Haven. The project traded hands several times as various railroads took over, and the Air Line open at last in 1876, thirty years after the project was first proposed. By 1885, a high speed train route called the “New England Limited” ran on the line through Thompson. Its upgrade “The White Train”, nicknamed the Ghost Train for its eerie appearance, came in 1891. By that time, the ridership was already in decline, and service of the Ghost Train ended nine years later in 1902. Trains carrying freight continued to use the route until flooding in 1955, which destroyed a bridge in Putnam that spanned the Quinebaug River. By the 1960s, interstate highways became the way to travel, and the railroad fully closed. The current park was established in 1969.
West Thompson Cemetery is one of twenty-three burial grounds located in Thompson, CT. The historic cemetery was first used in 1711 and is now maintained by the Thompson Conservation Commission, Thompson Historical Society, and the grassroots group Thompson Together. The Memorial Gates guarding the entrance to the cemetery were donated by Mary Abigail Blake Nichols in honor of her husband George Harrison Nichols in 1912; both are buried in the cemetery. Three centuries of headstones on the grounds show the progression of early American funerary design. Graves from the mid to late 18th century bear skull-like carvings, while a late 19th century obelisk was made of “white bronze”, actually a cast made of weather-resistant zinc carbonate. Also in the cemetery was a plaque to Revolutionary War veterans, which was erected by the now defunct Elizabeth Porter Putnam Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1916.
The entire Air Line Trail is split into a twenty-five mile long South section and a twenty-one mile long North section, which becomes the Southern New England Trunkline Trail (SNETT) upon reaching the Massachusetts border. The smooth, flat trail is a perfect place for hiking, running, biking, and walking leashed dogs. I enjoyed my quiet travels through small town Connecticut and look forward to returning now that the days are growing warmer.
