Route 61 is a secondary state highway in rural northwestern
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
connecting the towns of
Woodbury and
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
. It serves as the main north–south highway within the towns of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
and Morris.
Route description
Route 61 begins as Bethlehem Road at an intersection with
US 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...
in the northeastern corner of
Woodbury, heading in a northwest direction then crossing the
Nonewaug River before entering the town of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
. It heads directly into the Bethlehem town center and is locally known as Main Street South and Main Street North. Route 61 has a junction with
Route 132 in the town center.
The road continues north, heading into the town of
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Manitob ...
, where it becomes known as South Street and North Street. After passing through the Morris town center, where it intersects with
Route 109, the road changes name to County Road. Route 61 ends at an intersection with
Route 63 in the northeastern part of the town of Morris. Route 61 is a two-lane rural
collector road for its entire length.
History
In the 1920s, the road connecting Woodbury to
Goshen via Bethlehem and Morris was designated as State Highway 130. The road connected the various town centers of the towns it passed through. Modern Route 61 was established in the
1932 state highway renumbering from old State Highway 130,
with the exception of the section to
Woodbury center that is now modern
US 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...
. The original Route 61 extended north past Goshen center to near the
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
-
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
town line (at modern
Route 43). In 1943, Route 61 was shortened to its current length, with the northern segment reassigned to an extension of
Route 63.
Connecticut Routes, Route 61
/ref>
Junction list
References
External links
{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
061
Transportation in Litchfield County, Connecticut
U.S. Route 6