The Bluff Walk
(previously called Riverview Trail)
at Riverview Park
32 acres

River bluff trail in a Victorian era park near downtown Shelton.

• Scenic view of Derby-Shelton Dam and Housatonic River
• Historic Landmarks
• Playground

Trail Length: 1.3 mile using sidewalks and park road to create a loop back. Can be shorten significantly if needed.

Please watch a youtube video of the new route so you know which way to go:

Description:  Riverview Park is located at the edge of downtown Shelton, high up on the river bluff.  Many people are familiar with the playground, the ballfields, or the picnic benches overlooking the Derby-Shelton dam. But there is another part of the park which very few people see.   The heavily wooded slope that descends to the river below hides a very old trail that was dug into the side of the bluff decades ago. People once lined the cleared banks of the river to watch the Yale rowing races (below).

The trail was largely forgotten until the 1990's when the Trails Committee refurbished it.  Along the trail are some park features most people are not aware of.  There's an official Constitution Oak, a direct descendent of that tree shown on all the Connecticut quarters.   There's also Fort Hill, the site of a palisades fort built by the Pootatuck Indians.  Monuments mark each feature.

In 2009 a postcard entitled "The Bluff Walk" and postmarked 1914 was discovered at Plumb Library showing a spectacular view from a park road just above the Shelton Canal (below).  The overlook was determined to be from the vestige of a park road located in the woods directly behind the southern ballfield.  The trail was rerouted onto this old road and given back its former name.

This is a good trail to do when the trees are not leafed out because you get a river view for nearly the entire hike.  The park gates are closed for the winter, but, as far as I know, if you park at the gate and walk into the park no one is likely to tell you to leave.

FEATURES:

Derby-Shelton Dam (a.k.a. Ousatonic Dam):  The original dam opened in 1870 with a parade and lots of celebration with hope that the dam would bring industry and jobs to the city.    It did.  The dam is 686 feet long and 22 feet high, and the reservoir behind it is five miles long and is known as Lake Housatonic.  The dam is solid masonry, covered with granite, with canals on each side and a lock on the Shelton side. The dam washed out in January of 1891 after a severe cold snap and thaw which forced huge slabs of ice and flood water into the dam.   It was rebuilt by the end of the year. 

To the left of the dam is the Yale Boat House in Derby, originally built in 1918 and currently being rebuilt.   That year the first intercollegiate rowing race was held on Lake Housatonic between Harvard and Yale. The postcard below was postmarked 1912.

Constitution Tree Marker:  Between the two ballfields and opposite the war memorial building, a stone marks a large oak tree with a fence going through it.  One trunk of the tree fell in 2008 or 2009. A plaque reads "This is a Constitution Oak presented to Riverview Park 1902 by Senator Sturges Whitlock, Delegate to the Constitutional Convention.  This marker placed 1934 by the Kiwanis Club of Shelton." Following is a quote from a Robert Novak, Jr. column in the Huntington Herald:

"In 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, the tyrannical governor of the Dominion of New England, went to Hartford with the colony's colonial charter, the very first constitution in the Western Hemisphere.  Legend has it the debate on whether to hand it over was going badly in the old state house, when the candles were suddenly extinguished.

"When the candles were relit the charter was gone, hidden in an old, hollowed-out, white oak tree that stood in Hartford.  There the charter remained for two years until Andros was deposed, the tree becoming known as the Charter Oak.

"The oak was blown down in a windstorm in 1856, its age estimated at a thousand years at that time.  A number of acorns and shoots were preserved from this historic old tree, however, and venerated 'Constitution Oaks' were planted all over Connecticut.

But back to the tree in the park.  This almost forgotten tree's historic lineage was confirmed by town historian Jeanette LaMaechia, who remembered this section of the park before the ballfields were installed in the 1950s."

Fort Hill: A stone marker near the end of the trail reads  "Fort Hill.  On this point of land the Pootatuck Indians built a Fort in 1673 to prevent the white man from coming up the Ousatonic River."   The stone was  prepared by The Daughters of the American Revolution. The spot was advantageous for the Pootatuck because of the excellent river views. 

Before the arrival of Europeans, Pootatuck villages were located along the west shore of the Housatonic River, where downtown Shelton now stands.   The Pootatuck grew corn, beans and squash, dug up clams and oysters, gathered nuts and berries, fished and hunted seals and other wild game.  They lived in wigwams, made pottery, and weaved baskets. It was truly the land of plenty.  Around 1644 many of the people died and were buried in a mass grave where Canal Street is now located, perhaps because of one of the Old World epidemics. The grave was discovered in 1904 and some of the artifacts are now part of the collection at Peabody Museum at Yale.   European diseases such as small pox, measles and bubonic plague killed most of the Native North Americans alive at the time with a final death toll in the millions. 

When the Europeans began to settle in the area, the surviving Pootatuck were persuaded to sell their land bit by bit until they had lost all of Shelton.  It is likely that the Pootatuck did not really understand the European concept of land ownership and thought they were selling something like an easement allowing a handful of settlers to share their homeland. 

The  Pootatucks stayed at the fort until 1684, when they were forced to retreat further up the Housatonic River.  Although the fort was built largely as a defense against a growing white population, the Pootatucks were actually hoping for European assistance in their defense against hostile Indian nations.  To the west was the Iroquoi Confederacy of Five Nations, especially the Mohawks; to the east were the Pequots.  The relatively peaceful Pootatucks had nowhere to go except up the Housatonic River valley, fleeing enemies from all sides.

Other Features:

• Shelton Historical Marker: Every town in Connecticut received one of these.
• Honor Board (new)
• War Memorial Building (renovations planned)
• Boy with the Fish statue (recently refurbished - see 1906 postcard below)

Directions to the Park: Click for
Google location map & driving directions.  Or:
The park is located at the north edge of downtown Shelton on Route 110 (Howe Avenue) on the bank of the Housatonic River.  From the intersection of Howe Avenue and Center Street in the center of downtown Shelton, drive west on Howe Avenue for 0.7 mile.  You will be passing the park ballfields on your right. The park road is on your right.  Take the road and follow it all the way to the playground and park.  To get door-to-door driving directions from your house and a street map, go to Alta Vista Maps and type in "726 Howe Avenue" for your destination.  That's a house located near the park entrance, but across the street.

Information sources for this page:

"A winter's walk into Shelton's past" by Robert Novak, Jr. published in the Huntington Herald January 13, 1999.

"Valley Heritage Driving Tour Guide" published by Healthy Valley 2000.

"A Pictorial History: Shelton, Connecticut", 1987.