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There are several youtube videos on some of the victims, part of a documentary. It aired on CPTV long ago. I miss when they showed more documentaries; their ones on the floods/hurricanes of 38 and 55 were superbly done, also.
In the early 80s, I attended college in NYC, so understand Time Square and its full history. Long before porn, it was risque more decades than not.
Is anyone familiar with the path the Berlin Turnpike took to get to its low point? Did geography and mob control play a role?
Curious.
It really was mostly geography.
Back in the 1940's - 1950's it was in it's heyday. Route 5 was the main route from New Haven to Hartford (and into Canada). Think of it like Route 1 south to Florida or Route 66 out west. Many family vacations would pass through this route. Then they built I-91 just off to the west, and that took most of the auto traffic and travelers with it.
However, it's not really that bad these days. In fact, the bad/rundown area is really now confined to below where route 9 crosses over it. The upper part is actually nice with many stores there.
Back in the 1940's - 1950's it was in it's heyday. Route 5 was the main route from New Haven to Hartford (and into Canada). Think of it like Route 1 south to Florida or Route 66 out west. Many family vacations would pass through this route. Then they built I-91 just off to the west, and that took most of the auto traffic and travelers with it.
However, it's not really that bad these days. In fact, the bad/rundown area is really now confined to below where route 9 crosses over it. The upper part is actually nice with many stores there.
Thanks. Didn't realize pre I 95, routes like this dominated things.
As others have said, it's technically part of Route 15, which eventually becomes the Merritt Parkway, leading into the biggest city in America. Thus, it was a convenient travel route. And this, along with a number of cheap motels that used to dot the landscape, especially in Berlin, Newington and Wethersfield, made prostitution and trafficking a lucrative industry. I'm old enough to remember when the Turnpike was home to infamous motor lodges such as The Carrier, The Grantmoor, and a number of other one or two-story motels. Nearly all of these offered hourly rates, and nearly all of them attracted unsavory clientele. It was especially seedy during the '80s and early '90s when a number of strip clubs, X-rated theaters and video stores were near these motels, and naturally these went hand in hand. Since then, however, it's cleaned up a bit. A few of these motels and strip clubs have since closed (Centerfolds is now a credit union and a Starbucks, Mrs. Pipps is now a gas station), retail and restaurants have replaced those that shut down, and there's been significant media attention that's been drawn to this issue, as well as a crackdown on this behavior. It still exists, but IMO it used to be much worse.
Last edited by MikefromCT; 04-15-2024 at 05:32 PM..
Back in the 1940's - 1950's it was in its heyday. Route 5 was the main route from New Haven to Hartford (and into Canada). Think of it like Route 1 south to Florida or Route 66 out west. Many family vacations would pass through this route. Then they built I-91 just off to the west, and that took most of the auto traffic and travelers with it.
This is true. When I was a little kid we would go every summer to visit family in Vermont and Route 5/15 was the main road we would take. It was a 8 to 12 hour trip to go about 260 miles. My father hated the Berlin Turnpike portion because of all the traffic signals. They weren’t like today’s computer controlled signals that are timed to give traffic a progression. You’d hit just about every red light along the route. Then you’d go through every small town center and have to deal with traffic there as well. We’d leave Fairfield at 5:00 AM to get there before dinner.
Then they opened I-91 through Connecticut and our trip time dropped dramatically. Each year after that, they’d open a new section of the interstate and our trip would be a lot faster. Today it takes only 4 hours without traffic.
A family member will drive up and back in the same day. They leave early morning and are there for lunch. They’d visit with family for several hours and turn around and drive back. In the summer they are home before dark. Amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by simonusa3
However, it's not really that bad these days. In fact, the bad/rundown area is really now confined to below where route 9 crosses over it. The upper part is actually nice with many stores there.
It’s true that the Berlin Turnpike has improved dramatically over the past 30 to 40 years. Before that there were a number of “no tell motels” along it as well as a couple sleezy drive-in X rated movie theaters along it. The notorious Grantmoor motel is still there but has been cleaned up. They were mixed in with dozens and dozens of gas stations, tire shops and auto body shops. It was so bad that Newington barred any new auto related businesses along or near it.
That ban apparently worked because beginning in the mid 80’s the Berlin Turnpike started becoming a big box store magnet with retailers like Walmart, Lowe’s, Target, Dick’s, Stew Leonard’s and Home Depot, among others, opening along it. Bob’s Discount Furniture was founded just off there in Newington.
Even the lower part of the turnpike, below Route 9 is much nicer than it once was. Though the iconic Hawthorne Inn has been there forever, the older and underdeveloped properties are giving way to small retail centers, family entertainment venues (miniature golf, batting cages, public parks), manufacturing buildings and even upscale multi family housing.
Thanks. I had been up that way very little in my life, simply no reason to go that way. The documentary caught me off guard, so I read and watched vids beyond that, and was a bit surprised. seemed off the beaten track.
The NY Times in early 80s did great expose on adult businesses on coast, which were almost all mob linked then, and the coast I understood, as the business plan would focus on all cities 100k plus, so the NY families would have extensions in Bridgeport, New Haven, Providence, etc.
But CPTV is what enlightened me regarding the Berlin Turnpike.
Btw as for the porn movie theatres mentioned, bet few realized the Milford Drive In tried porn when it started floundering.
Btw as for the porn movie theatres mentioned, bet few realized the Milford Drive In tried porn when it started floundering.
It did??? I don’t remember that. I’m not doubting you. Just shocked to hear that. Do you know about what years that was?
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