Located in the northeast corner of Connecticut, the Quiet Corner is full of farms, country roads and beauty. With its renovated main street, Putnam is at the heart of the area.

Putnam is a classic New England mill town. Set along the Quinebaug river, Putnam was once home to more than fifteen factories – making everything from grist mill to buttons. While The US Button company is the only running factory in the town today, the Cargill Falls and repurposed mill buildings are central to Putnam’s charm. 

The Cargill Falls are actually a series of falls with two dams and rocks that the water cascades over. They are right outside the center of the town and along a well designed river trail.

The Putnam River Trail runs for three miles along the Quinebaug river and provides modern art sculptures and small gardenscapes to add to the beauty of the walk.  The river trail extends from the center of the city to a dog park and covered terrace that holds a small farmers market on Saturdays.  

Up the hill from Cargill Falls is the main street of Putnam. At the center of the shopping area is the massive Antiques Marketplace. Antiques Marketplace offers over 130 vendors in its four story space. The first floor is organized in protective glass shelves, while the upper floors are sectioned off into small cubicles. The surprise mezzanine on the second is a fun architectural detail. The marketplace offers everything from military gear to fine china.  It was overwhelming – but in the best way.

Just next door is Jeremiah’s Antique & Collectibles, which also offered a lot of options, but with neon lights and a whole section of comics, was a little more modern in its offerings. These are just two of the stores that make the area known as the antique capital of the Northeast. 

There are also a great selection of home goods and gift stores in town, and I found myself spending more time than I usually do in each one because they all had their own vibe and a hint of humor. I loved the headpots at August & March, the “Dingers” at Wolperdinger Bookends, the seconds table at Sawmill Pottery, and cards at Arts & Framing. Through all of these shops and the many cafes and eateries in town, I felt a strong sense of community.  Wolperdinger Bookends has created a journaling table in their loft area, Sawmill Pottery raises money for scholarships, and random locals talked to me about coming back for this festival or that.  The town continued to make me smile with its collection of fairy houses and murals adorned the outside of shop buildings. 

One of the places that I spent a lot of time during my visit to Downtown Putnam was the Boxcar Children’s museum.  While I’ve heard of this series before, I don’t think I’ve ever read it; still, it was hard to resist the cute red boxcar sitting across the tracks. After a lengthy conversation with the volunteer inside, I learned a lot about the author (Gertrude Chandler Warner), the town of Putnam, and the work it took to put together this cute little museum – and the new mural below. As the only museum set inside of a boxcar, it is a must see. 

While in the area, I took a quick detour to the West Thompson Dam. The dam was built in the 1960s as the final project of the US Corps of Engineers to control the waters that devastated the town of West Thompson and the surrounding areas in the flood of 1955.  The current lake is actually where the town once stood; the paved path that juts into the lake is one of the only signs of the town that once was.  West Thompson Lake offers opportunities for hiking, fishing, and boating; and I saw people taking advantage of all of these on a gorgeous day in the fall.

I visited Putnam in the fall, and for me fall is all about corn mazes – I try to tackle at least one a year. So on my way home, I made a stop at the Fort Hill Farms Corn maze.  Set on the land of a Frederick Olmstead designed farm, the maze was grand and challenging. While I successfully made it out of the maze, I did not find all of the clues along the way. The owner, Kristen, is outgoing and proud to tell you about the history of the farm and the maze. 

Putnam hopes to connect their River Trail with the Air Line State Park Trail that runs for 50 miles from the Thompson to Portland. At the Massachusetts border, it connects to the Southern New England Trunkline trail. I’ve explored this cross section on my adventure to find the Tri-State Marker.  Since the majority of the hike to the marker is on these old railroad trails, it is a fairly easy walk. There is a bit of an incline to make it to the marker, but it is short and fun to say that you’ve been in three states at once.