There are several theories to explain this 7 square mile part of Southwick that pokes into CT. Tipsy surveyors, unreliable equipment, and just plain cussedness.
In 1642, 2 surveyors set out to mark the boundary between the 2 colonies. All they had to go on was that the border started 3 miles south of the most southerly branch of the Charles River near Boston and ran due west. After setting the line they decided to sail around the coast and up the CT River. Unfortunately when they picked up the line again they started 7 miles to far south. Since that time it has been disputed.
TWO COLONIES -- Massachusetts Bay 1734-1774 ---Connecticut 1774-1776
TWO STATES--- CT 1776-1804--- MA 1804=present
THREE COUNTIES--- Hartford 1774=1804--- Hampshire 1804-1812--- Hampden 1812-present
FOUR TOWNS--- Westfield 1734-1770--- Southwick 1770-1774--- Simsbury 1774-1786--- Granby 1786-1804--- Southwick 1804-present.
Of the 3 ponds that form Congamond Lakes the eastern and southern shore line of Middle and South ponds form the border of MA and CT. Latest disputes happened when a developer started filling in the Suffield shoreline and building houses, thus changing the state boundary
. As you walk along the road bed you will be next to the Farmington Canal that used the ponds as a way to save on building costs in 1829.
In a recent dispute about the water level being too high some one breached the earthen dam, near the small cement bridge along your path, the town rebuilt it only to have it breached again. Since then the town gave up