Mt Tom State Park

Story

Mount Tom State Park is a state-operated, public recreation area lying south of US Route 202 in the towns of Washington, Litchfield, and Morris in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The park occupies on the southwest shore of 56acre Mount Tom Pond. The park is one of the oldest in the Connecticut state park system and is home to the Mount Tom Tower which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.HistoryMount Tom State Park was among the 15 parks created between 1913 and 1918 by Connecticut's first State Park Commission and was the first to open. The park's land had been donated in 1911 for use as a state park by Charles H. Senff. Following Senff's death, his widow, Gustavia A. Senff, saw the transfer of the property through to completion, with the state legislature finalizing the action in 1917.Mount Tom TowerA condition of the Senff gift was that a permanent observation tower be maintained at the summit of Mount Tom. The State Park Commission recommended that a stone tower be built to replace a wooden structure that had stood at the spot since 1888. The commission's secretary, Alfred M. Turner, drew up plans which were not closely followed when an unknown contractor constructed the tower of rough black gneiss found at the site. The tower stands high and in diameter; it was completed in 1921. Visitors can climb to the top for views that extend to Mount Everett in Massachusetts, the Catskills in New York, and Long Island Sound.