Bob Grigg’s “Bytes of History”
Featured “Byte”
Colebrook River,
Thumbnail Sketch >>
Bob Grigg (December 8, 1932 – July 25, 2016) was born in Wakefield, MA, attended the Colebrook Center School through the eighth grade, graduated from Lyndon Institute in Lyndon Center, Vermont, enlisted in US Navy (1952-56), Clark University (1956-60), then embarked upon a career as a cartographer, finishing as the Information Editor for Hammond, Inc. of Maplewood, New Jersey.
After returning to Colebrook, Bob became involved with the Colebrook Land Conservancy and the Colebrook Historical Society, which ultimately led to his being named Municipal Historian for the town of Colebrook. For the past ten years Bob has written a weekly column in the Winsted Journal under the byline “Historic Bytes.”
Bob was married to Anna Grigg for the past thirty years. His daughter, Robin, is married to Rick Tillotson. They all live in Colebrook.
Below is a list of Bob’s many and diverse articles (over 500 posted as of March, 2015). You’ll need Adobe Reader to open most of these as PDF’s.
Bob’s Bytes Now Available: Hard Cover $30 | Soft Cover $20
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- 44 Chapin Road
- 561 Colebrook Road, The History of
- Battlefield Truces
- Cider Preservation
- Colebrook Center in 1811
- Colebrook Center in 1811- II
- Colebrook Fair background information
- Colebrook Town Papers (Geneaology 19th c )
- Dates of Concern in Colebrook
- Dates of Importance
- Fragments of the Past
- General Phelps Tangles With Congregational Minister
- History of 36 Schoolhouse Road
- International Date Line
- Interpretations From Colebrook Town Records
- North Colebrook Post Office 1851
- Ownership of Land
- Phelps Documents – Political Feb 1864
- Agricultural Products
- Arnold, Charles
- Baking From Scratch
- Canals in Northeastern Pennsylvania
- Colebrook River – Another Saga
- Colebrook’s First Cider Mill
- Erie Canal, The Importance of
- Flood of 1927, The
- French Family’s Local History, The
- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
- Historical Odds and Ends About Colebrook, II
- Humor
- Humor II
- Illumination in Colonial New England
- Johnstown, New York
- Letter From Kabul, Afghanistan, 1959
- The Colebrook Historical Society, Inc.
- Colebrook Manufacturing Company
- Colebrook News From January 5, 1877
- Colebrook Quilt, 1867
- Colebrook School Account Book
- Colebrook School Records
- Colebrook Schools Graduation – June 9, 1930
- Automobiles in 1930
- Biographical Review (1896) Items
- Civil War – Propaganda Letter
- Definitions
- Dogs in Colebrook 1896
- Eben North Letter to Rufus, July 12 (no date)
- Eben North Letter to Rufus, March 2nd 1817
- Elections of the Past
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Enos North’s Journal
- Hardscrabble Road Sandisfield, MA
- Hale Barn
- Hale Barn’s Place in History
- Hillside Plow
- Highlights of Colebrook History
- Haystack Mountain
- The Sage Family of Colebrook
- Possible Artists of the Sage Paintings
- Sanderson, Dr. Roy’s Naval Diary
- Sandy Brook
- Sandy Brook Bridge
- Satan’s Kingdom
- Shay’s Rebellion
- Archaeology In Robertsville
- Coconut Palm
- Colebrook Historical Odds & Ends
- Colebrook Historical Odds & Ends
- Colebrook Memories Sally Gray
- Colebrook Photographer Una Clingan
- Colebrook Town Expenses 1814-1825
- Colebrook Veterans
- CT Involvement in The War of Independence
- CT Western Boundary
- False Information
- Guam and the Northern Marianas
- Guam and the Northern Marianas Part 2
- Hale Barn History
- Hiroshima & Nagasaki
- Historical Inaccuracies
- Historical Inaccuracies Part 2
- Julia Wharton’s Colebrook
- Julia Wharton’s Colebrook Part 2
- Julia Wharton’s ColebrooK Part 3
- Julia Wharton’s Colebrook Conclusion
- Mills Interview
- Mills Interview Part 2
- Nineteenth Amendment
- Orrin Oles
- Patterns in our Landscape
- Richmond, VA
- Richmond Whig
- Two Hundred and Twelve Years Ago
- US Overseas Territories
- Water Power
- A Bear Story
- A Hundred Years Ago
- A Lesson on Slavery from a Colebrook Schoolbook
- Abiram Chamberlain
- Acts and Laws May 8, 1777
- Air Spotters of WWII
- Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 19th
- American Automobile 100 Years Ago, The
- American Heritage Letter
- American Revolution – Stony Point, NY
- American Revolution, a Definition
- American War of Independence
- Ammi Robbins Journal
- Ammi Robbins-highlights
- Amy Baxter’s Colebrook River
- An Act for the Punishment of Drunkenness
- An Enigma
- Andrews, Roy Chapman
- Andros, Sir Edmund
- Anty Over The Shanty
- Assessments, Town of Colebrook, 1823
- Attention Getters in the Nineteenth Century
- Australian Slang from WWII
- Autogiro Landing Field
- Barberry Bushes, – Colonial Enemy
- Barnice White
- Baseball in a Strange Place
- Beech Hill and Sandy Brook Roads
- Beech Hill Recollections – M. R. French (1950)
- Beech Hill Road
- Beginnings of Local Government in Connecticut
- Beginnings of Local Government in CT
- Beginnings of the American Monetary System
- Berkshire County, Massachusetts in 1838
- Blizzard of 1779
- Blizzard of 1779, Conclusion
- Blizzard of 1779,The
- Bonin Islands
- Book of Trades
- Bridge Expenses
- British-American Contrasts
- Brookside Pond Talk
- Buster Hart
- Butler, Mary E. – School Compositions, 1855
- Butter Presses and Paper
- Agriculture in Colebrook
- Agriculture in Colebrook 1879
- Ammi Philips, Colebrook Native
- Ammi Philips, Colebrook’s own American Folk Artist
- Colebrook Bridges
- Colebrook 170 Years Ago
- Colebrook Cave
- Colebrook Center’s Beginnings
- Colebrook Community Center Background
- Colebrook Congregational Church, Early Dates
- Colebrook Consolidated School, The Beginnings
- Colebrook Fire Department History
- Colebrook Flagpole
- Colebrook History at a Glance
- Colebrook Humor
- Colebrook in the Eighteenth Century
- Colebrook in the Nineteenth Century
- Colebrook News Clippings, 1850’s & 1870’s
- Colebrook River in 1914
- Colebrook River Lake, Creation of
- Colebrook River Recreation
- Colebrook River Roads
- Colebrook River, Thumbnail Sketch
- Colebrook Roads – Chapin Road
- Colebrook Roads – General
- Early Dates in Colebrook
- Richard Smith Forge Site in Colebrook
- Caesar’s Rescue June 29/30, 2002
- Capt. Wm. Swift, Artist and Mechanic
- Capture of Richard Smith’s Polly, Feb. 1st, 1783
- Capture of Richard Smiths Polly
- Carriages and Other Wheeled Vehicles
- Center School in Colebrook
- Charcoal’s Role in the Iron Industry
- Charles Everett Papers – Complete Text
- Charles H. Rockwell, Admiral, U.S.N
- Charlie Thompson
- China Central Television
- China Trip
- China Update
- Chinese Contact
- Chinese Contact, Part 2
- Chinese Contact, Part 3
- Chinese Cultural Exchange, 2002-2003
- Chinese Educational Mission
- Chinese Immigration to America
- Chinese Students in Colebrook
- Chinese students mentioned in Sarah Carrington’s diaries
- Church Hill Rd, 61
- Civil War Letter, March 10, 1863
- Clippings From Old Newspapers
- Conflict Between Native Americans and the Colonists
- Colonial Foods
- Colonial Foods (Early)
- Colonial Foods in Western New England
- Colonial Hunting Laws
- Colonial Laws
- Colonial Tales About Uncas
- Commodity Prices
- Commodity Prices in Colebrook – 1832
- Commodity Values in Early Colonial New England
- Composition of Colebrook’s Original Forest
- Connecticut Charter and John Boyd
- Connie Nordstrom’s Quilt
- Convention Troops in Connecticut
- Cotton Industry in Colebrook River,The
- Cotton Industry in New England
- Coy Family in Colebrook (2), The
- Coy Family in Colebrook, The
- Creating a Farm on Prock Hill, 1830’s
- Crime in Colebrook
- CT Route 8 Realignment 1966
- CT’s Early Money
- CT’s Involvement in the War of Independence
- Dairying in Colebrook 1
- Dairying in Colebrook 2
- Deacon Grant Farm
- Deacon William Lawrence
- Dialects
- Diary from Beech Hill
- Diary of September1947
- Direction Giving, The Art of
- Duel Ownership
- Early Turnpike Roads
- Early Types of Fencing
- Effects of Malaria in the New World
- Eggers Trail
- English Immigration to Massachusetts Bay, 1629-1640
- Ethan Allen
- European Contact with New England Native Americans
- Farmington River Turnpike Rate List
- Feuds
- Flag Day is June14
- Flood (1955) , Fifty Years Later
- Floyd Hart
- Flying The Hump in WWII With Lt. Wyllys Smith
- Flying The Hump, Part II
- Flying The Hump, Conclusion
- Forge School Growing Pains
- Forge School Papers 1849
- Fourth Grade Students at the Rock School, 1858
- French and Indian Wars
- Gasoline Station Fire in Colebrook Center
- Gathering Clouds of War
- Genealogical Information at Historical Society
- General Assembly Mandated Roads
- Gettysburg National Cemetery
- Girl Scout Cookies
- Great Hartford Water Grab, The
- Grocery Store in 1908
- Growth & Development in CT Towns 1635~1790
- Hart Family of Colebrook
- Hartland 170 Years Ago
- Hessian Soldiers Buried in Colebrook
- Highways Around the Center
- Highways of Southwestern Colebrook
- Historical Inaccuracies
- Historical Odds & Ends about Colebrook
- Histories of Various Colebrook Houses
- History of the Rock School
- House Fires Have Always Been With Us
- Houses and Early Home Life of Colebrook
- Important Trees and Shrubs in the Food
Chain During Colonial Times - Independence, 1776
- Indian Stories From Connecticut
- Indian Story of Early Litchfield
- Indians From Litchfield
- Interim Report on the Archaeological Investigation at
- Interim Report, Robertsville Forge, Part II
- Interim Report, Robertsville Forge, Part III
- Interim Report, Robertsville Forge, Part IV
- Introduced Plant Species at the Rock School
- Iron and Steel
- Items for Grandmother’s Kitchen
- John Atkinson
- John Potpolak
- Kayaking on Sandybrook
- Krakatoa Volcanic Explosion, 1883
- Ledger of Daniel Sears, 1793
- Lessons From an 1825 Spelling Book
- Letter From E. North, 1824
- Letter From L. North, 1825
- Letter to Rufus North, June 15 1828
- Lewis Hurd, American Patriot
- Lieutenant Edward Carrington
- Linguistic Phonics
- Lost in The Greenwoods
- Lumbering in the 1920’s
- Major Categories of Colebrook History
- Mark Twain – Joseph Twichell Walk
- Medical Advice from 130 Years Ago
- Memories of Beech Hill
- Memories of Colebrook
- Memories of Reuben and Aurelia Rockwell
- Middle East, Then and Now
- Millbrook Road, 78, The History of
- Military Episodes of the Revolutionary War
- Misconceptions About Early Iron Industry
- Miss Rockwell’s Trip to Ohio, 1850
- Mizner, Addison
- More From Colebrook, Tasmania
- More Tools of Yesterday
- Mother’s Day
- Music From Revolutionary Period
- Music From WWII
- Miscellaneous Information
- Nancy Phelps Blum
- Naval Crossings of the Equator, 1812 and 1956
- New Hartford 170 Years Ago
- Newspaper Reports From 1982
- Norfolk 170 Years Ago
- North Colebrook Roads
- North, Enos, Footnotes to Ledger
- North, Letter from Enos to His Parents, 1829
- Notes From the Zhuhai Trip
- Notes on Indians from CT Historical Collections
- Old Colebrook Road
- Old Newgate Prison
- Origin of Litchfield County Names
- Origins of 474 Smith Hill Road
- P. T. Barnum’s Recollections
- Panorama Hill
- Paper Making in Colebrook
- Passing of Colebrook’s Dairy Industry
- Paul Revere’s Kitchen
- Petroleum Industry in Pennsylvania
- Phelps Road, 99
- Plant Lore
- Postcards
- Preparing for Rock School Day
- Prock Hill Road
- Prohibition Era
- Quilting Explained
- Recollections of 1801
- Reuben Rockwell’s Journal 1835
- Reverend Cotton Mather Smith of Sharon
- Riley Whiting and the Local Clock Industry
- Roads of Western Colebrook
- Robertsville Forge Updat
- Robertsville Roads
- Rockwell Spring
- Robertsville Forge during the War of Independence
- Romance of Maps
- Rowley Bricks
- Sandy Brook
- Sandy Brook Area in the 19th Century
- Sarah Carrington’s Recollections, 1926
- School Report for Colebrook – 1886
- School Report for Colebrook – 1916
- School Visitor Report – 1850
- Seth Hurd, Colebrook Pioneer
- Significance of the Gray Barn
- Simons Pond in Colebrook
- Solomon Sackett of Colebrook
- Sounds of Yesterday
- South School
- Spring Water
- Starting With 2001 and Going Back in Time with Twenty Year Leaps
- Stockbridge Indian Notes
- Stockbridge Indians
- Story of the Flag
- Students Interact With History
- Tales of the Greenwoods
- Tanning Industry in the Nineteenth Century
- Tapping the Maple Tree
- Telephone of Alexander Graham Bell
- Telling Tales
- Thanksgiving Dinner During the Revolution
- The Perils of Teaching Grammar
- The Roots of our Freedoms
- Time Changes
- Tools of Yesterday
- Tools of Yesterday III
- Tools of Yesterday IV
- Tornado of June 30,1976
- Torrington and Harwinton 170 Years Ago
- Transportation in the United States
- Trees/Shrubs/Plants in Rock School Yard
- Underground Railroad Quilts
- Vegetation Existing at the Rock School
- Voices from the Past
- Wampum
- War of Independence – Burgoyne 1
- War of Independence – Burgoyne 2
- War of Independence – Burgoyne 3
- Westmoreland County Connecticut
- Winchester 170 Years Ago
- Winchester Town Records
- Winchester Town Roads
- Winsted Herald Articles – 1870s & 1880s
- Winsted in the 1940s
- Winsted Wildman
- Winter Road Conditions in Colebrook
- Witchcraft in Colonial New England
- Yarn-Beam Cannon
- Year Without a Summer, 1816
- Colebrook Road (Rt. 183)
- Colebrook Roads – Moses Road
- Colebrook Roads – Sandy Brook Road
- Colebrook Roads Source Info
- Colebrook Store Owners
- Colebrook Town Clerks since 1779
- Colebrook Town Expenses For 1826
- Colebrook Trivia
- Colebrook, Ohio
- Colebrook, Ohio Revisited
- Colebrook Road, 597
- Colebrook, Tasmania
- Colebrook’s Artist Colonies
- Colebrook’s Old Schoolhouses
- Colebrook’s Oldest House
- Colebrook’s Artist Colonies
- Colebrook’s Brush With Spirits
- Colebrook’s Contribution to the Pap Test
- Colebrook’s First Telephone
- Colebrook’s Historical Town Documents
- Colebrook & the Iron Industry, 1770 – 1810
- Colebrook’s Non-involvement With Railroads
- Colebrook’s Possible Paleo Site
- Colnbrook
Mission
The mission of the Colebrook Historical Society shall be to promote and encourage historical, antiquarian and genealogical research; to preserve and publish same; to educate the community; to collect and display antiquarian and historical objects and records, and to preserve the Rock School building.
The Society shall reach out to the community at large to provide creative, educational, historical and entertaining experiences. The Society shall employ both traditional and contemporary communications platforms to promote and maintain the relevance of the organization.
