By Reginald Johnson
BRIDGEPORT, CT --- The Remington Woods open space
tract --- zoned by the city for commercial and residential development --- may
have been an area where indigenous people lived thousands of years ago.
In the late 1990s, when
development ideas for the woods were first discussed, then Connecticut State
Archaeologist Nicholas Bellantoni did an assessment survey of the area. Bellantoni
recommended that the 423-acre forest be preserved due to “archaeological
sensitivity” and called for a full exploration and inventory of findings.
That full exploration was never done and Bellantoni,
now retired, could not be reached for extensive comment on his research. But
local resident Jeff Kohut, who was in touch with Bellantoni at the time, said that
the state official based his recommendation in good part on the discovery
decades earlier of artifacts from a Native-American camp on land right next to
Remington Woods.
That land is where
the Nob Hill Condominiums, on Nob Hill Circle in the northeast section of
Bridgeport, now sit. Kohut said that ancient Indian artifacts were discovered
during the construction of the condos just after World War II. The artifacts,
dating to 7,000 years ago, indicated the presence of a camp and tool making
site and “prolonged habitation.”
“Unfortunately, the
artifacts were discovered only after major disruption of the site/building had
occurred, so a full assessment/reconstruction of the habitation by Native
Americans was impossible,” said Kohut.
Kohut said Bellantoni
had also located 7,000-year old habitation sites in the Pequonnock River Valley
in Trumbull, about 1 mile from Remington Woods. The Pequonnock River Valley is
close to Church Hill Road and Daniels Farm Road.
Kohut also noted
that he had discovered ancient artifacts, including an arrowhead and ax head,
on property in the Lake Forest area of Bridgeport, also about 1 mile from
Remington Woods. The artifacts were authenticated by Bellantoni and also dated
from 7,000 years ago.
The current state
archaeologist, Sarah Sportman, said that prior to the creation of a lake on the
Remington property (Lake Success),
“there were streams and wetlands which likely made the area attractive
to indigenous people.”
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| The lake at Remington Woods. Ancient indigenous artifacts were found nearby. |
Currently, the
property is owned by the Sporting Goods company, a subsidiary of Corteva
Corporation, previously part of DuPont. The tract --- of which 347 acres are in
Bridgeport and 76 acres in Stratford --- was once used by the Remington Arms
company to test guns and ammunition. In recent years, there has been an
EPA-monitored hazardous waste clean-up of the area.
Sporting Goods
officials are now mulling options for development of the site, following the
city’s approval of a zoning designation of “Residential-Office” late last year.
That approval came
after dozens of people spoke out at a public hearing supporting the idea of
preserving the woods as open space and as a wildlife refuge. Some speakers also
raised the archaeological questions associated with the site and wondered why
development would be allowed to go ahead with those questions unanswered.
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| Artifacts dating to 7,000 years ago, found in the Lake Forest area, about a mile from Remington Woods. |
According to multiple
histories of the southern Connecticut area, indigenous people, primarily the
Paugussett tribe, inhabited the region for centuries if not millenia prior to
the arrival of European settlers.
“The Golden Hill
Paugussett Tribe has been a part of Greater Bridgeport’s history from time
immemorial,” said Charles Brilvitch, an historian and author of the book “A
History of Connecticut’s Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe.”
Brilvitch said the
Paugussetts lived in a number of areas of what is now Bridgeport, Trumbull,
Stratford and Fairfield. There were Paugussett villages in the area of Golden
Hill Street and Elm Street in downtown Bridgeport; on land where Mountain Grove
cemetery sits near the mouth of Ash Creek; and at the head of Johnson’s Creek
near the Bridgeport-Stratford line, among other locations, he said.
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| Downtown Bridgeport, not far from City Hall. Centuries ago, the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe had a village on this land. |
After Dutch and
English immigrants arrived in the 16th and 17th
centuries, the Paugussetts were systematically driven off their land, either violently by settlers or by government
decree.
Today, a small Paugussett tribe remains, with a
quarter-acre reservation in Trumbull.
A Paugussett leader
said the tribe is in the beginning stages of finding out what’s going on at
Remington Woods and what the Sporting Goods company has in mind.
“We are planning on having a meeting with them
so that our council and us can go to the land. We can talk, we can meet, we can see, get
our questions out and see what they have to say before we can comment on
anything,” said Shoran, the Clan Mother and Tribal Head Leader of the Golden Hill Paugussetts.
