The Derby Greenway — a trail along the Naugatuck River — received federal recognition Saturday with the unveiling of a plaque designating it as the first completed section of the Naugatuck River Greenway.
John Monroe, a planner for the National Park Service, said the overall 44-mile-long greenway trail, stretching from Torrington to Derby (under various phases of construction), is one of 101 recreation projects selected for funding under the Obama administration’s America’s Great Outdoors program.
But Derby’s Greenway, the southernmost end of the Naugatuck River trail, predates the America’s Great Outdoors program.
Its ground-breaking took place on June 21, 2005, after several years of planning and design work.
Derby’s trail wasn’t carved out in idyllic woods. That would have been easy.
Instead, the Derby Greenway was built atop flood walls that once separated the community. Now it’s a community gathering place. Click here for an excellent summary on the project posted on the Electronic Valley.
Saturday’s tribute was especially fitting, as it happened during Derby Day, the city’s annual festival.
Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri said he remembered the condition of the plaque dedication site at the Division Street trail head (next to BJ’s Wholesale) in the aftermath of the great Naugatuck River flood in 1955.
It was the location of a drive-in theater that was flooded out by a week of heavy rain from two hurricanes that dumped heaps of smelly, polluted mud over everything. At the time, the river was frequently tinted different colors depending on the dye used that day at a B.F. Goodrich sneaker factory upstream.
“When Derby opened its greenway, it opened up the river for all its possibilities,” Staffieri said.
From that location along Division Street, the trail for bicyclists, walkers and joggers stretches down the Naugatuck River, across O’Sullivan’s Island, to the confluence of the Housatonic River, and then up the Housatonic to downtown Derby.
The dedication was timed to coincide with the city’s hall of fame induction.
This year’s inductees: James B. Atwater, Horace Weston and Stephen Whitney.
Atwater, a civic-minded businessman, was mayor of Derby for two terms just before and after World War I. He is best remembered for building the Route 34 bridge over the Naugatuck River that links the east and west sections of the city.
Weston, a free-born African-American born in Derby in 1825, was a multi-talented musician, best known for his banjo playing. In fact, he was reputed to be the best banjo player of all time, and received a medal from Queen Victoria after appearing in a performance of a stage version of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in England.
Whitney, a noted businessman and investor who was born in Derby in 1776, built the Merchants’ Exchange Building, which was the home of the New York Stock Exchange. He was also one of the founders of New York University.
Bricks inscribed with the names of the Hall of Fame inductees are found on the apron surrounding the old horse fountain located at the Division Street trailhead.
Also present at the ceremony Saturday were Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti.
Ansonia’s connects with Derby’s on the Ansonia side of Division Street and stretches toward the Target shopping center.
