The wooded area south of St. Peter’s parking lot was once open fields. Due to glaciation depositing a layer of crushed stone that prevented moisture from sinking deep into the ground, the soil that built up over the centuries made this one of the most fertile areas in Hebron. Before the town of Hebron was created, this area was farmed by Indigenous People.

The Town of Hebron started out as a real estate venture. Men in Saybrook, Connecticut acquired the land from Attawanhood or Joshua, Sachem of the Western Nehantics, in 1676. In 1702, they divided the area into 86 lots, reserving two lots in the center as a possible center for the settlement. Settlers had to buy 100 lots in order to live in Hebron. David Barber purchased much of the land between Route 66 and Kinney Road. By the early 1800’s David Barber’s son-in-law Sylvester Gilbert began to sell off land to the north of St. Peters’ parking lot. The land south of St. Peters parking lot was purchased by Governor John S. Peters as an early open space preservation project. Both Sylvester Gilbert and Governor John S. Peters hired free African Americans to farm their land. This allowed these African Americans living in Hebron Center to rise to the middle class and live side by side with their Yankee neighbors. Following original proprietor lot lines, these African American workmen constructed stone lanes to allow horses, sheep, and cattle to pass by the fertile fields to areas reserved for pasture. This created a unique grid of walls testifying to how progressive farmers improved their land in order to raise cattle for cities like New York and Boston, as well as for the West Indies. Currently, this land represents the last intact farm left in Hebron Center.

In the Spring of 1781, part of the French Troop contingency who had spend the winter in Lebanon marched by this site on their way to Yorktown, the last battle of the Revolutionary War.

Thinking About It

Farming is no longer a major way to earn a living. How would you use this land?

Where to go next

Walk along the sidewalk toward Kinney Road

Meet Your Neighbors QR Tours funded by the Hebron Greater Together Community Fund in conjunction with the Hebron Historical Society