Entertainment Calendar
Pomfret’s Gilded Age and the Railroad that Built a Summer Haven for the Rich
Pomfret Station (now Putnam) connected Anna Whistler to her family and friends in Stonington, and New York in the 1850’s. By the 1870’s an even better railway came to Pomfret which ushered the Gilded Age and a new era in Pomfret’s history. Wealthy families from New York and Newport built large estates, gentleman farms, and summer cottages to get away from the heat and bustle of the city. The farms produced fresh eggs, vegetables, meat, cheese, and milk for the summer guests and were shipped to their town houses in the winter months by rail. The convenience of the railroad brought vacationers to the newly built boarding houses and country inns which took in the emerging middle class. Up until the 1920’s Pomfret was known as “Little Newport” with tennis courts, golf courses, a racetrack and casino on Pomfret Street, and countryside drives and walks organized by the Inns. Walter Hinchman will take us on a virtual tour of some of the grand estates and summer homes from that era and Stewart Chute will share some railroad history. Costumes from the gilded Age encouraged!