This is a remnant of one of Connecticut’s most tragic natural disasters.

The Flood of 1955’s impact on Winsted, Torrington, and Thomaston has been discussed before on this blog. Two feet of rain fell on the state, and 87 residents of Connecticut were killed. Twenty-two million dollars worth of damage were inflicted in Torrington alone.

In Riverton, a cement structure that housed an apparatus to measure the depth of the Farmington River was swept away by the surging waters. It was found downstream, and brought to the local baseball fields. More than thirty years later it was adorned with a plaque honoring the memory of local volunteer Bill Van Allen.

It stands there still, a silent sentinel to the power of Mother Nature and the fury unleashed on northwestern Connecticut over sixty years ago.

Special thanks to Mike DeMazza for his help in solving the mystery of the cement structure!