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“An excellent account of an unhappy episode . . . Lomuscio gives a wonderful account of the fight that went on through 1937 and 1938 . . . [a] tremendous story.”—The Boston Globe
The story of the historic rise and fall of one New England town, with sweeping implications for environmentalism and the sanctity of open spaces facing the onslaught of modern development.
Since the early 1940s, the remains of Valley Forge, Connecticut have lain one hundred feet beneath the waters of the Saugatuck Reservoir. The town, once a thriving nineteenth-century iron and steel manufacturing town, was rendered an unwilling victim to the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company’s post-World War I plans for the scenic valley. Historic glass plate negatives depicting the lost town in its heyday, documented in the 1860s by Civil War photographer Charles H.D. Adelbert Whitlock and others, lay unnoticed in an abandoned garage until their chance discovery in 1969. In Village of the Dammed, James Lomuscio has reconstructed from these images and other remarkable primary sources the story of the rise and fall of Valley Forge. He shares with the reader extraordinary reproductions of the historical photographs and reminiscences of the futile battle to save the town. Village of the Dammed is the stirring story of the proud Yankee residents’ resistance in the late 1930s to the proposed flooding and its life-altering repercussions.
Though unsuccessful in Valley Forge, in the 1990s a second group of dedicated grassroots Connecticut citizens opposed the development of nearby Trout Brook Valley through a land sell-off by Aquarion (now the owner of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company). With the moral and financial support of popular actor and local resident Paul Newman, Trout Brook Valley was saved after a heated battle.
Flooding natural valleys for commercial gain has been a volatile issue for almost a century. As the population of the American northeast continues to grow and spread, placing new demands on established resources, communities are frequently confronted with forces and choices not unlike those faced by Valley Forge and Trout Brook Valley. Village of the Dammed reminds us to be ever vigilant in the protection of our irreplaceable environmental heritage.
“Village of the Dammed: The Fight for Open Space and the Flooding of a Connecticut Town preserves a piece of Connecticut history that might have been lost forever were it not for Lomuscio.”—Fairfield County Times
"Village of the Dammed is a pure nostalgic trip."—Greenwich Times
“Author James Lomuscio offers a warmly written and personalized account of the flooding and its aftermath. It's a cautionary tale today for citizen activists who want to fight City Hall (or water companies).”—E Magazine
“U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once noted that property does not have rights. People have rights. James J. Lomuscio captures in poignant and compelling terms a Connecticut community's attachment to their homes, property, and way of life, and their valiant effort to protect their rights in pre-World War II America. And as governments and private companies continue today to abuse eminent domain, The Village of the Dammed is still very timely, serving as a cautionary tale of what can happen when power is abused in the name of progress.”—Scott Bullock, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice, Washington, DC and lead counsel in Kelo v. City of New London
“This story of poetic justice is grounded so precisely in time and place and personality that in the end the reader emerges as part of the community. It is inspiring to see the environmentalist victorious and the land protected, but that victory also belongs to the submerged village that was sacrificed long ago in the name of progress. A wonderful tale!”—James Gustave Speth, Dean,
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Click here for TABLE OF CONTENTS
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JAMES LOMUSCIO has been an award-winning journalist for nearly thirty years, writing for Gannett newspapers, The (Bridgeport) Connecticut Post, and The New York Times. He was also editor of Westport News and Westport magazine in Westport, Connecticut. Currently he is adjunct instructor of rhetoric and advanced rhetoric at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut; of journalism at Western Connecticut State University; and of literature and composition at Norwalk Community College.
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