THE TOWN GETS A NEW NAME run by Andrew P. Hine. He had a very fancy sign-board which marked the place. Part of that house still stands, a grim reminder of former usefulness. It underwent a major operation when the Wilbur Cross Parkway was constructed and lost the front half of the building.
The house by the Wepawaug dam, occupied by the care-taker of the New Haven Water Company, was once a tavern. There are two enormous chimneys. The one on the east side of the house had a large Dutch oven. On the west side is a closet between the front and back rooms, with a window in it. This was used to serve the tap room. This house was in the Alling family for generations.
THE MILFORD TURNPIKE
In 1802, the New Haven and Milford Turnpike Company was organized. Of particular interest was the fact that it was ordered to have one gate, wherever three Judges of the County Court should direct. One hundred shares of capital stock were issued.
In his history, Lambert says: ''At a town meeting, it was voted to oppose the New Haven and Milford Turnpike Company running the turnpike through people's land, also voted that it must follow the roadways, except to cut sharp corners.''
The toll-gate on this road was also in Orange, located near the underpass of the old railroad between New Haven and Derby. For many years Mr. Benjamin Somers was the gate-keeper, living in a small house near by. Later he moved to Orange Center, to the house just south of the Cemetery, now owned by Arthur W. Chambers, Jr. As this Turnpike was a link in the post line between Boston and New York, it occupied a place of importance. After the railroad between New Haven and New York was built, with the first trains starting in December, 1848, traffic on the Turnpike began to decline. At a Town meeting held October 6, 1873, Orange voted ''to purchase the stock of the Milford Turnpike Company, exclusive of the toll-gate property, for a sum not to exceed $500."
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