One Route to Rule Them All – Who can solve this road riddle?
- Today Online
- May 12
- 6 min read
Updated: May 15
• A Tale of Two Roads, One Route and Five 100-Year Businesses
This is a revised and updated version of a feature that first appeared in our monthly Today Magazine
By Bruce Deckert
Editor-in-Chief • Today Online and Today Magazine
Five 100-year businesses in Connecticut's Farmington Valley are located along two roads, yet three routes — but also along one route.
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Confused? Let’s unpack this counterintuitive navigational-and-business riddle. First things first — let’s identify that one route.
Simple: U.S. Route 202.
Wait, maybe this isn’t so simple — for Farmington Valley residents and others. If you're racking your brain, trying to visualize where exactly Route 202 runs through the Valley, you’re not alone.
If you’re like other area residents, whether longtime or brand-new, the exact identification of Route 202 is perhaps elusive — and given the historic nature of the route, ignorance clearly is not bliss. An informal Today Magazine survey of locals confirms the paucity of knowledge regarding the existence and whereabouts of this renowned and prominent U.S. roadway.
Let’s explore the reasons why by taking a verbal journey along the pathway of Route 202 through the Valley.
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U.S. Route 202 and Connecticut Route 10 run concurrently — that is, together as the same road — from the Connecticut-Massachusetts border, south through the north-central Connecticut towns of Granby and Simsbury and Avon, until Route 10/202 meets U.S. Route 44 in Avon.
Four of the aforementioned 100-year-plus Valley businesses are headquartered in Simsbury along Route 10/202, also known as Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury — in order from north to south: Vincent Funeral Home (founded 1902), Welden Hardware (1889), Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (1836) and the Mitchell Auto Group (1922). Welden is officially on Station Street, a stone’s throw from Hopmeadow, aka Route 10/202.
Meanwhile, Harvey & Lewis Opticians (founded 1890) has a Canton location in The Shops at Farmington Valley along Route 44/202 — also known as Albany Turnpike in Canton. Overall, Harvey & Lewis has eight locations, including another Valley venue at the UConn Health Center in Farmington on Connecticut Route 4 aka Farmington Avenue.
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NOTABLE ROADWAY
Actually, an out-of-state company with a Valley connection is also more than 100 years old. State Farm Insurance (founded 1922) was established in Illinois and has its corporate headquarters there. These four State Farm agents are based in the Valley:
• Ron Huston • Avon • Route 44/202
• Dave Persa • Canton • Route 44/202
• Josh Zelem • Farmington • Route 10
• Matt Martin • Simsbury • Route 10/202 — north of Vincent Funeral Home — formerly Rana Morton's State Farm agency
State Farm doesn’t merit inclusion among the five century-old businesses noted above — it’s certainly not a Farmington Valley-headquartered business — but given these four Valley-based agents, the company merits mention with the proverbial asterisk.
Let’s continue on our journey, traveling south straight as an arrow — for the most part — on this notable roadway. When Route 10/202 crosses from Simsbury into Avon, Hopmeadow Street counterintuitively becomes Simsbury Road. Yes, this begs the question: Why on earth isn’t Route 10/202 in Simsbury known as Simsbury Road?
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Who knows? Perhaps a whimsical town planner made the decision, or maybe a muddled mapmaker sustained a disorienting blow to the brain, leading to a navigational mix-up.
You may recall that there’s a Canton Road in Simsbury. Since Simsbury Road is in Avon and Canton Road is in Simsbury, a logical progression would indicate that Avon Road is in Canton. Right?
Try again — West Avon Road is, in fact, an Avon thoroughfare. Alas, this makes too much sense in the face of such jumbled town-and-street nomenclature.
Go figure … but our discussion digresses.
Continuing our southerly direction, when Route 10/202 (aka Simsbury Road) meets Route 44 in Avon — at the familiar intersection where the iconic Avon Congregational Church stands — a right-hand turn connects U.S. Routes 202 and 44 running west concurrently, while a left-hand turn joins Connecticut Route 10 and U.S. Route 44 running east concurrently.
Route 44/202 goes west about five miles from Avon into Canton, past the Canton-based Valley Shops, until Route 202 continues solo (essentially due west) toward Torrington and Route 44 continues solo (essentially northwest) toward Winsted.
Meanwhile, Route 44/10 runs east about one mile until a right-hand turn at the base of Avon Mountain sends Route 10 solo going south. Route 44 continues solo going east over the celebrated mountain toward West Hartford and Hartford.
HISTORIC HIGHWAY
If few Valley residents associate Hopmeadow Street and Simsbury Road with Route 202 — instead identifying that asphalt as Route 10 — even fewer local citizens call Route 44 anything but, well, Route 44.
A question for denizens of the Farmington Valley: How often have you conceived of the section of Route 44 from Avon Mountain to Canton’s Saybrook Fish House as either Route 202 or Route 10? Yet technically that single stretch of road is a mingling of these three historic routes.
The history of Route 202 — the common roadway where the above five 100-year businesses reside — dates back over 90 years.
The federal government approved a multi-state request in June 1934 to establish U.S. Route 202 as a 671-mile highway from Bangor, Maine to just south of Wilmington, Delaware.
In June 1964 and December 1984 the route’s southern endpoint migrated north, according to the Federal Highway Administration, an agency in the U.S. Department of Transportation. Route 202 is now 627 miles long, and its southernmost point is closer to Wilmington — in Basin Corner, Delaware.
Lord of the Rings devotees will surely remember the legendary refrain: “One ring to rule them all — one ring to find them — one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”
Let’s paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien's poetry in view of an essential commercial artery featuring five iconic Valley companies: “One route to rule them all — one route to find them — one route to bring them to light on a business-lined highway.”
The next time you’re on that road, will you think of it as Route 202? +
Sources — Google Maps • various online media outlets
A loyal reader and SPJ-award-winning writer wrote to Today Magazine after this feature was first published and offered the following explanation for the potentially confusing town road names mentioned above:
Your story on Route 202 and the roads around here made me laugh. The reason for “Simsbury Road” in Avon and other similar road names is because as you leave that town you are heading INTO the named town. So Simsbury Road out of Avon goes into Simsbury. Many roads in Connecticut are named like that. They lead to the next town by that name. — Terri Wilson • President • Avon Historical Society — her explanation was published as a letter in the July 2022 edition of Today Magazine, our monthly publication — the original version of this feature appeared in Today Magazine's June 2022 edition
• SPJ = Society of Professional Journalists
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Today editor-in-chief Bruce Deckert is a multi-award-winning journalist who believes all people merit awards when we leverage our God-given gifts for good — he previously served as an ESPN Digital Media editor and as a reporter and editor for the Imprint Newspapers group that covered the Farmington Valley and various other towns in Greater Hartford
Today Online features community news that matters nationwide and aims to record Connecticut’s underreported upside — Today Online and Today Magazine are produced by Today Publishing
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