Places to walk
Explore the nature of Windham County at any of our walkable nature preserves. The following locations offer easy access and parking. Take only pictures; leave only footprints. For all to enjoy; for all to cherish.
A WLT Collaboration
Waking the Dead: Archaeology, Genealogy and Archival Research of Enslaved Africans and Native Americans
The Townshend parcel of WLT’s Nightingale Woods Preserve is backdrop to area resident Donna Dufresne's ongoing research of the Randall family, some of its early inhabitants. The Pomfret Historical Society is sponsoring four workshops presented by Donna that will cover research techniques and burial ground restoration featuring the enslaved Africans of Jonathan Randall from 1777 up to the Civil War. Workshops include tours of historic sites including the WLT Townshend Preserve in the Nightingale Woods and demonstrations on repairing and cleaning gravestones.
Out of the Shadows: Commemorating the Enslaved African Americans of the Randall/Higginbotham Cemetery
It is believed that enslaved African Americans are buried at the Randall/Higginbotham family cemetery, but in unmarked graves.
The WLT, with the support of Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, the Connecticut Land Conservation Council and The Last Green Valley, is pleased to partner in the effort to help shed light on the past habitation of this land and to commemorate the individuals whose graves were not marked when they died. Tune in for more details on this project, Out of the Shadows: Commemorating the Enslaved African Americans of the Higginbotham Cemetery, coming soon!
The Land We Live On
