Peck's Mill Pond

Peck's Mill Pond is a site of natural and historical interest. Located at the junction of North Main Street and Main Street-Putney, it is easily accessed by car. Parking is permitted in the parking area immediately north of the pond on Main Street-Putney.

Peck's Mill pond is approximately one acre in size and is fed by the Pumpkin Ground Brook. The pond has been a favorite fishing site for years. Around the pond lies a small trail network which passes through a typical red maple swamp wetland area.

Small bridges and trails have been built and maintained through the efforts of the Rotary Club, Civitans, the Stratford Junior Conservation Club, and the Stratford Conservation Commission.

The park is habitat for a variety of woodland birds, fish, and interesting plant species.

Of historical interest, the pond is the former site of a grist mill and saw mill; neither is still standing. The pond was also used in the "ice-block" business in the early 1900's. Peck's Mill Pond is most famous for the Trolley Disaster of 1899 when 32 people were killed in a derailment three days after the line opened. (See newspaper stories at the bottom of this web page).

"At the urging of landscape architect Charles Downing Lay, Peck's Mill Pond was purchased (by the Town) in 1945, and dedicated as perpetual parkland on February 15, 1962. The Conservation Commission began construction of a nature path around the pond, usable by handicapped persons. Nine years later the town council reversed itself and put the sewer pumping station there. The nature path was never finished."  (From In Pursuit of Paradise: History of the Town of Stratford, Connecticut, Lewis G. Knapp, 1989).

Click here to read about the August 6th, 1899 Peck's Mill Trolley Disaster.