Connecticut Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Susan Campbell, Bill Heald

From mysterious noises and surreal supermarkets to car artists, flocks of plastic flamingoes, and places where Washington never slept, discover the wry observations about Connecticut's oddest and most obscure phenomena.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Susan Campbell is an award-winning environmental journalist, author, and communications specialist. She covered the Fox River and Green Bay cleanup controversy from 1995 through 2000 as environmental reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Her extensive Fox River reporting won national and state honors, including a national “Best of Gannett” award for specialty reporting in 1997; an enterprise reporting award from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association in 1997; beat, staff enterprise, and specialty reporting awards from Gannett in 1997, 1998, and 2000; and a spot news award from the Milwaukee Press Club in 1999. The Fox River stories were also honored by the local Green Bay community, earning the “Conservation of Natural Resources Award” from the Green Bay Mayor’s Beautification Committee and the “Clean Bay Backer Award” from the Remedial Action Plan Committee.

Campbell is also co-author of Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, (University of Wisconsin Press, 2002) with the late Earth Day founder U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson. Her articles have appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Psychology Today and Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. She’s shared her passion for local newspapers as an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and for the environment as a public speaker in classrooms and at Earth Day events.

After her newspaper career, Campbell championed Great Lakes protections, notably passage of the landmark Great Lakes Compact, as communications manager for the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes. In 2017 she branched out to focus on sustainable real estate, promoting energy efficiency in homes and working to raise the profile of sustainable homes nationally as a founding member of the National Association of REALTORS’ Sustainability Advisory Group.

Reviews

[Dori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book, but it’s quite outdated. A few of the “facts” are not true anymore and some of the places are closed or just don’t exist anymore. It was still fun but I’d love a newer updated version.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always fun to see how well you know your area. There were some surprises!

[diane stefon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kind of outdated, and CT doesn't really have any interesting spots, or maybe I just read the wrong book.

[Jennifer Lavoie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I thought my family and I would enjoy going out and finding all of these quirky places. Some of them might be off limits, and others are no longer around, but I think it is an interesting book that can get explorers started, especially in their home state (assuming they are from CT).

Some of the places I have been to and can either check off or revisit. I'd like to scrapbook one day with all the places from this book that I've been. I think that would be fun. The places listed for Bristol, my hometown, are all places I have been numerous times, which was interesting. Not too exciting for me since I have been there, but others might find them neat places to visit.

One thing is for sure though: I will not be going to Dudleytown. Not only is it off-limits and you will get arrested if you go, I'd rather not be haunted, thank you very much.