Bozrah, Connecticut: A Biblical Name and Three Mill Villages

Bozrah began as part of Norwich's nine-miles-square grant, in the Parish of West Farms; it became its own parish in 1737 and was incorporated as a separate town in 1786, taking its biblical name after a Hartford legislator, amused by a delegate's parti-colored homespun clothing, quoted Isaiah 63:1 rather than approve the requested name "Bath." The town is really three villages — Fitchville, the center; Leffingwell, a Route 82 crossroads; and Gilman, a mill village on Fitchville Road. Early residents farmed corn, oats and flax while the Yantic River powered cotton manufactories in the Fitchville and Bozrahville sections, and the Palmer Brothers ran the Fitchville Mills for roughly a century; their mill houses and stone buildings still stand and remain in use. Reuben Hyde Walworth, born here in 1788, was nominated three times to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Tyler in 1844, though the Senate never voted on any of the nominations. Bozrah covers 20.2 square miles with 2,429 residents at the 2020 census, bordered by Norwich, Montville, Salem, Colchester, Lebanon and Franklin, with 529-acre Gardner Lake reaching into its southwestern corner — though the lake's developed beach and boat launch sit across the line in Salem.

Bozrah is a drive-to town with no rail service of its own: take Route 2, the Norwich-Hartford expressway that runs straight through town, to Exit 33 (renumbered from the old Exit 23 in Connecticut's 2025 milepost conversion) for Route 163 and Fitchville, or approach the Leffingwell crossroads on Route 82, with I-395 meeting Route 2 just east in Norwich. The nearest passenger trains are Amtrak Northeast Regional and CTrail Shore Line East at New London Union Station, roughly 15 miles south — Acela no longer stops there — where you will still need a car for the rest of the trip. No passenger rail station exists in Bozrah or in any of its bordering towns.

Maples Farm Park, a nineteenth-century farmhouse and 32 acres the town acquired in 2007, has four hiking loops totaling 3.5 miles open to horseback riding, plus an outdoor pavilion and the Bozrah Farmers Market on Fridays in season. The Glemboski-Ous Preserve, protected by the Avalonia Land Conservancy in 2024, straddles the Bozrah-Montville line with about 3.5 miles of trail through forest and wetland — terrain is moderate to difficult, stream crossings are unbridged, and bow hunting is permitted in season, so wear blaze orange in the fall. For an afternoon out, Odetah Camping Resort's Knolls & Holes miniature golf course has 18 holes with water hazards and sand traps, and the resort's Oasis Lakeside Cafe is the only sit-down food service verified inside Bozrah itself; Acorn Acres Campground, open year-round, is the town's other camping option.