Bissell Ferry 1641 - 1917
The first ferry crossing of the Connecticut River was tended by John Bissell in 1641. This road leads to the landing place where succeeding generations of Bissells, and finally the Town, kept this Ferry in continuous operation until 1917. Main Street, the "Highway", was laid out by order of the General Court in 1672. At this corner stood the tavern kept first by David and then Aaron Bissell.
Later the home of Daniel G. Sperry, it was the birthplace of the Hon. Lewis Sperry, Congressman and Lawyer. Dr. Ella Sperry, 2nd woman doctor in the United States, and Ruth Thompson Sperry, co writer of Stiles "History Of Ancient Windsor".
At the barn north of the Tavern, stages stopped to change horses enroute to Boston or New York. Across the street is the house built in 1788 by John Watson, Merchant and Farmer. North of the Watson house stands the 1772 house where Daniel Burnap built his clocks. The three large brick houses facing the street were built by the Bissells. John Adams, riding through here in 1771, recorded in his diary. "Today I rode through Paradise".
American Bicentennial
1776-1976
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