The history of Waterbury, Connecticut - citizen hylbom blog

22 HISTORY OF WATEKBUET.
The following action of the grand committee related to East
Main street.— (Joseph Gaylord lived on the north side of the
street, on the corner of North Main.)
Farmington November 27 1619: A meeting of the comitte for mattatuck Itt is
determined that high way layed out by Lt. Samuell Steele att the east end of the
town plat att mattatuck running eastward out of said town plat being thre rod
wid shall always be and remain for publick and common vse which is between
Joseph Gaylords lott and a hous lott reserved for such inhabitants as shall her-
after be entertained
I have given above all which I have been able to gather,
concerning the old highways comprehended in the original
plan of the town center. There is nothing on record regarding
tlie most ancient roads as they were first laid out. What-
ever we know is obtained from the re-surveys, incidental remarks
and the very imperfect memoranda, and often erroneous
descriptions of the home lots, and the early land grants, w^hich
" butted " on highways.
In Feb. 1702-3, it was ordered by the town " that the highways
layd out be recorded :" but this order appears to have
been wholly neglected till 1716.
The home-lots of the first settlers of Mattatuck were upon
the central streets, most of them on that running east and west,
a few on the one running north and south. The lots on the
outside streets, and those that were situated most distant from
the center, were taken up at later dates, as there was occasion
for them. They were staked out by the committee, and those
first disposed of, distributed by lot, in the way the old town
plot lots were designed to be, without reference to amount of
proprietorship. They varied in size according to the desirable-
ness of the locality, and " the make of the ground," natural
disadvantages being compensated by additional acres. A
majority of them contained two acres, but some had four, one
five, and others only one and a half acres. Some eligible lots
were reserved, and many outside ones, not so desirable, w^ere
left for future settlers. These were disposed of by grant— by
the committee, at first, and subsequently by the j)i"oprie-
tors.
Around the " Green," (Centre Square,) on all sides and so
,