The Bluff Walk (Riverview Park)

Here are some old postcards from Riverview Park, where the Trails Committee is working today. The park was donated to the town in the late 1800's by the Shelton Canal Company, and offered spectacular views of their water works and the river.

The top picture is labeled "The Bluff Walk", and we think this is the old road behind the large baseball field, now lined with trees and Yucca and marked by Scrappy's gravesite. The view is lost except in winter. We've decided to rename our existing trail at Riverview Park "The Bluff Walk" to honor the historic portions of the trail, and because it seems many people confuse Riverview and River Walk.

Here's the view from the where the Boy with Fish statue is today, about the center of the park. There is still an amazing view there, with a picnic table. We hope to improve the existing trail so that average people will be able to easily follow it. Up to now it's been rather disjointed.

There the Boy with Fish statue (picture dated 1905), which was recently refurbished.

Riverview Park is in the upper left of the drawing above. You can see where the park roads used to go, including what I believe is the Bluff Walk, the loop above the train (click to enlarge the drawing).


Further north in the park, closer to where the playground is now, people used to watch the Yale rowing races from the river bank (which is now heavily wooded). This is where the crowd once witnessed a train hitting eight children on the tracks below, a tragic day.