Crossroads: Southwick Road Names

Author's Note: This reference guide was originally published under the title Crossroads. It has since been updated and reformatted into more of an index, allowing new information to be added as it is discovered. Like all Southwick Time Machine publications, it remains a living document that continues to evolve with ongoing research.

— A Southwick Time Machine Historical Index

Berkshire Avenue

Berkshire Avenue was named for the Berkshire Ice Company, which once owned most of the lakefront property along the west shore of Congamond Lake from Point Grove Road to Congamond Road and south along South Pond.

The name was briefly changed in 1955. At the annual town meeting on March 22, the town approved renaming a portion of Berkshire Avenue "Curve Street." The change was short-lived. At a special town meeting on October 11, 1955, the town voted to restore the name Berkshire Avenue.

Coes Hill Road

Coes Hill Road was originally known as Cross Road. It later became Coe Road, before being officially renamed Coes Hill Road for Addison H. Coe, who owned a large farm on the hill.

The Coe farm included a farmhouse, barns, and other outbuildings at the base of the hill. Addison H. Coe also served as a town constable. His son was a milk peddler. (Addison Coe has appeared on the Southwick Time Machine before)

The Bridge over Great Brook

College Highway

College Highway was officially dedicated on May 22, 1923.

Before becoming College Highway, the road was known by several names. A deed dated 1824 for property on which the Southwick Congregational Church stands refers to it as "Simsbury Road." It was also known as Main Road.

Different sections of the road had different names. North of the new village center, it was known as Westfield Road. South of Congamond Road, it was known as Palmer District Road, later renamed Granby Road. North of Congamond Road, it was known as Gillett Road.

Gillett and Palmer were both prominent Southwick families. (Gillett's Hardy Fern and Flower Farm in Southwick was well-known throughout the United States)

Congamond Lake

Congamond Lake was once known as Congamuck, a name associated with a local Native American tribe. White settlers called it Southwick Ponds. It was once a major tourist destination.

See also Sheep Pasture Road

Congamond Road

Congamond Road was formerly known as Lake Road. (Not to be confused with Congamond Lake Road)

Lake Road was where the Lake House once stood. The infamous hotel was located across from Saunders about where the former Franklin House is today.

Davis Road

Davis Road was originally known as Hunter Road. It was named for the Hunter family that lived on one end of the street.

Hunter Road connected Putney Road, now Fred Jackson Road, with Sodom Mountain Road, now Vining Hill Road.

See also Fred Jackson Road and Vining Hill Road

Depot Street

Depot Street was formerly known as East Street. It was later renamed Broad Street, before becoming Depot Street.

There was a train depot located at the Powder Mill Road end of Depot Street.

Looking out from Broad Street. Note the Southwick Public Library at far right.

Feeding Hills Road

Feeding Hills Road, Route 57, was formerly known as Springfield Road. It was unofficially called the Southwick-Feeding Hills Highway. It was extremely rural with massive fields and acres of woods. The road connected to the northern part of the Long Yard.

Fred Jackson Road

Fred Jackson Road was formerly known as Putney Road. The Putney family once had a large farm there.

The road was renamed for Fred Jackson, a well-known Southwick resident who later lived on Putney Road. He died in 1933. For a time, both names were used interchangeably. Fred Jackson's nearest neighbor was Claus Anderson; John Mason lived around the corner.

Fred Jackson Road was mentioned by that name in 1934, when the town approved crews to clear brush and widen the curves. However, Putney Road continued to appear in records for years afterward and can be found in the sources as late as 1941. The earliest reference in the sources consulted is from 1894.

Granville Road

The present-day Granville Road was originally known as Hillside Road.

Hooppole Road

Status: No longer exists

Hooppole Road was located off Loomis Street.

Klaus Anderson Road

Klaus Anderson Road, named for prominent Southwick resident Claus Anderson, was formerly known as Granville Road.

Laro Road

Laro Road was originally known as Powder Mill Road.

A large powder mill once stood near the brook in the vicinity of the present-day intersection of Laro Road and Shaker Road in Westfield.

Mort Vining Road

Mort Vining Road was originally known as Vining Hill Road. The Vining homestead was located nearby on Vining Hill.

Morton Moore "Mort" Vining was born in Southwick on June 23, 1855. He was a well-known tobacco grower, having owned a large farm in Southwick. Following a long illness, he died in Southwick on March 19, 1925.

See also Vining Hill Road and Sunnyside Road

Mouse Hill Road

Status: No longer exists

Mouse Hill Road was located off College Highway, behind the former Southwick Country Club. It bordered the former Sunnyside Ranch and ran to what is now Hillside Road.

Town officials eventually determined that the road was too dangerous, and it ceased to serve as a public way.

North Longyard Road

North Longyard Road was originally known as Long Yard Road.

It connected with South Longyard Road before a section was renamed Foster Road, after the Foster family who lived there. The intersection of Foster and North Longyard was known as Fosters Corner. It later became Camen Corners. (See Pioneer Dairy Chronology)

This part of Southwick, particularly the area around present-day South Longyard Road, was known simply as the Long Yard. Over time, the space between "Long" and "Yard" was dropped, and the name became Longyard. With advancements in transportation and mail delivery along with shifts in population, the Long Yard District was divided into North Longyard and South Longyard, with each having its own schoolhouse.

Powder Mill Road

In the 1800s, the area around what became Powder Mill Road was home to several mills, particularly powder works. Many of the powder mills and associated structures, including pounding mills, press houses, and other outbuildings, were destroyed by explosions over the years.

The road appears to have been known as the road leading to the powder mills or powder works before eventually becoming known as Powder Mill Road, likely around the turn of the twentieth century.

Sheep Pasture Road

Sheep Pasture Road was formerly known as Southwick Pond Road and later as Congamond Lake Road (not to be mistaken with Lake Road).

Today, Sheep Pasture Road takes its name from a large sheep pasture that was there. The sheep pasture was a well-known landmark throughout the region. In the early 1800s, folks referred to the street as the "road to the sheep pasture," and the general area was loosely known as the sheep pasture section of town.

Sheep Pasture Road is one of the oldest continuously named roads in Southwick.

South Longyard Road

Before the railroad, South Longyard Road was one of the early and heavily traveled roads leading toward Southwick Ponds. It was often referred to as "the road to Southwick Ponds." Outside of Rising Corner, South Longyard was rural and extremely dangerous for travelers, especially at night.

Sunnyside Road

Sunnyside Road was originally known as Fox District Road.

In 1896, Robert B. Crane of the Cane Bros. paper mill in Westfield began acquiring land in Southwick's Hillside District. He purchased hundreds of acres, much of it bordering Mouse Hill and extending toward New Road.

Crane built a massive farm on his newly acquired property and named it Sunnyside Ranch. Due to its impressive size, the ranch quickly became well known throughout the region. (See Sunnyside Ranch Chronology)

Fox District Road ran directly to the ranch, and people began referring to it as "the road to Sunnyside." It eventually became Sunnyside Ranch Road, before being shortened to Sunnyside Road.

Tannery Road

Tannery Road was formerly known as Round Hill Road. It was also known as Kellogg Plantation Road.

The name was eventually changed to Tannery Road in recognition of the large tannery located there, which was operated by the Kellogg family.

Vining Hill Road

Vining Hill Road was formerly known as Sodom Mountain Road. The Vining family's homestead sat on Vining Hill.

The Vinings were extremely well-known throughout the region, even before the murder of Lester Vining. He was brutally murdered by his daughter at the Vining homestead on Vining Hill. (See separate story)

Before the road took the name Vining Hill Road, another road already carried that name. That road was later renamed Mort Vining Road to honor Morton Moore Vining.

See also Mort Vining Road

— A Southwick Time Machine Reference

This article is based on original primary-source research, including official documents and records, census data, old maps, newspapers, and directories.

Southwick Time Machine stories are living documents. Research is ongoing, and this account may evolve as new information comes to light.

Photographs accompanying this story are authentic, unless otherwise noted. In keeping with historical preservation standards, some of the images may have been digitally enhanced for clarity and detail, without altering the original subjects.

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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes

When Southwick's Town Hall burned in 1868, most of the town's records were destroyed. Only a small number of records survived.

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