Sperry Homestead

This serene landscape was once the bustling heart of the Sperry family”s homestead and mill operations. At this site stood the home of some of the original European settlers in our area including: Nathanial Sperry (1695-1751), his son, Revolutionary War patriot. Sgt. Simeon Sperry (1739-1805), grandson Enoch Sperry (1787-1856), and great-grandson US Congressman Nehemiah Day Sperry (1827-1911) who was an early anti-slavery advocate and a Connecticut delegate to the National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President.

In 1907 the heirs of Enoch and Mary Atlanta Sperry, led by their son Nehemiah Day Sperry, generously donated this land to the Town of Woodbridge to establish Sperry Park. Their gift aimed to preserve the natural beauty and historical significance of the area for future generations.

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the Sperry family had operated a mill on this site along the Sargent River, utilizing water power to process grain and wool. However, by the late 1800s, advancements in transportation and industrialization led to the decline of small, local mills. In an 1905 reflection, Congressman Sperry noted: “It is actually cheaper today to bring a barrel of flour by railroad from far-off Minnesota to New Haven than it is to cart it from a Woodbridge farm to New Haven”

Today the Park encompasses the original “Sperry Home Lot” featuring remnants of the family’s home and the nearby mill foundations.

This project was funded by The Connecticut Recreational Trails Program with a grant from the State of Connecticut administered trough the Department of Energy  and Environmental Protection