Hopmeadow Street

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Permalink Reply by Bryon Turner on August 10, 2011 at 8:22pm

Great question...  Perhaps we should do a wild hops scavenger hunt?  Seriously, would love to hear the back story on that and other hope related naming choices in the state.

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Linke on August 10, 2011 at 11:27pm

I do one practically every time I'm out on my bike solo. I have not seen any mitten, tulip, or heart shaped leaves with cones yet... I was lucky enough to spot a few wild plants near my fathers house in upstate NY that will be harvested soon! Any local info would be great!!!! Where was the beer of the revolution brewed? What kind of hops did they use?

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Permalink Reply by Bryon Turner on August 11, 2011 at 5:51am

Maybe we should include a "Johnny Appleseed" aspect to Bikes & Beers, and randomly plant some hops along the trails...  Might be an interesting experiment.

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Permalink Reply by Frank on August 12, 2011 at 11:37am

Check out the second paragraph here:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nyne/neh/canton-ct.htm

There is a reference to "certain fruitful vine growing in wild luxuriance" along the Tunxis River near what is now Tarriffville.  I did some research a few years ago when I first moved to Simsbury and recall reading something about the name not coming from hops, but from the abundance of salmon and trout that were seen hopping out of the river, thereby inspiring the name for the Hop Brook which is a tributary of the Farmington River, and the surrounding area then being called Hop Meadow, but I'm now not coming across that info when I do some searches.

Have not seen any growing wild, but I also have not hiked that area around the gorge (yet).

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Linke on August 15, 2011 at 11:54am

What a great tidbit of info from a primary source... I'll have to go see what type of fruitful vines I can find.

 

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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey C. Ballard on January 27, 2012 at 1:08pm

 Many years ago I heard stories of tobacco growers along the Ct. river tributaries pushing their hops grown for the Breweries over the banks when tobacco became the crop of profit during prohibition. It is rumored that these hops are still growing wild along the banks.

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Permalink Reply by Stuart Linke on February 6, 2012 at 11:58pm

Great info! I really need to do a little recon. and see if there is something to be brewed with...

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Peretto on February 10, 2012 at 9:03am

I can't speak to hopmeadow, specifically. But I know from doing some research that places like hop river (Bolton area) is not at all named after our beloved hops. It's actually a version of hope. It was an old english(?) word for the valley between two hills/mountains.  In fact, in old maps until 1811, it was actually labeled as the hope river. Sorry to burst y'alls bubbles :-)

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Permalink Reply by Frank on February 10, 2012 at 10:38am

I don't think you're bursting anyone's bubbles with regard to Hopmeadow.  Historical info published in 1895 states that the name was Hopmeadow from the moment the area was first discovered by settlers based on the wild vines growing along the river banks.  I'm hoping to hike the area this spring and see what I can find.

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