Freedom Trail Map

Archer Memorial Cemetery  and Pine Grove                  

ARCHER ROAD                                                                                 

During the 1880’s and 1890’s, the first resident pastor, Reverend Dennis Scott White, conducted popular camp meetings in the Pine Grove. The cemetery, located in the Pine Grove, contains the graves of Sandy Archer and his wife Elizabeth, along with other members of Archer. There are approximately 21 graves located in the cemetery. The nearby pond was used by the congregation for baptismal services and by the town for swimming and ice-skating.

Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church           

 320 HAYDEN STATION ROAD (Built in 1897)                      

A community of African Americans resided in the Hayden Station area during the nineteenth century. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was one of the religious and social centers for this community. Its first building was constructed with financial assistance from a local philanthropist, Frederick Thrall. The original church was located next to the pine grove north of Hayden Station Road and Pond Road. In 1915 the church was relocated and named the Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in memory of Sandy Archer.

William  Best House    [PP ]    

377 HAYDEN STATION ROAD                                                      

William Howard Best (1924-2006), a World War II veteran of the United States Marine Corps, began his job as Windsor’s first black police officer in 1951. He served the Windsor Police Department for 18 years until a job injury forced him to retire. Prior to the police department, Best worked for Colt Industries and was one of the first African Americans to work as commercial bus driver in Connecticut. Following his retirement from the Windsor police department, he opened Wil-Bes Printing on Pierson Lane in Windsor. In an effort to ensure that the experiences of African-Americans were included in the telling of Windsor’s history, Best generously shared his extensive and invaluable knowledge with all who inquired. In addition, he and his wife, Jean, were active members of the Windsor Historical Society and he served on the society’s Board of Directors. A lifelong Windsor resident, William Best had the house at 377 Hayden Station Road constructed in 1953. The land, however, has been in the family since the 1870’s when his great grandparents purchased the property which was once owned by Sandy Archer. The Best residence stands across the path from Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church that bear’s Archers name.  The house is privately owned and is not open to the public.

Sandy Archer                                                                                           

Sandy Archer, born in 1806, was a sincere Christian who died at the age of 108. Mr. Archer was born a slave in the south. Through the Underground Railroad, Sandy Archer escaped from his slave owner and came to the Windsor area where he began his days of freedom. A Windsor road was named Archer Road to honor him and to reflect the rich history of the area.

Joseph Rainey House    [ PP  ]                                                                                                   

299 PALISADO AVENUE                                                                                          

Joseph Rainey purchased this property on May 20, 1874 and he owned it for the remainder of his life. It was used by his family as a summer residence. Rainey is best known for being the first African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving for the state of South Carolina. He was also elected five terms, holding office from 1870 to 1879, and during this period introduced petitions for the passage of civil rights legislation that would guarantee African-Americans their full constitutional rights. He dramatizes his stance on the issues of access to public accommodations by his refusal to leave the dining room of a hotel in Suffolk, Virginia, forcing the owner to remove him from the premises. The Rainey family was active in the First Church of Windsor and in 1876 Rainey spoke at the Town’s observance of the American Centennial celebration. The house is privately owned and is not open to the public. The home is located in the Palisado Avenue Historic District.

Palisado Cemetery, Nancy Toney Gravesite
75 PALISADO AVENUE

Only a few slaves remained in Connecticut by the time the state passed its full emancipation law in 1848. Several of these individuals were too aged to care for themselves and therefore continued working with their former owners. It is believed that Nancy Toney, a former slave of the Chaffee/Loomis family of Windsor was the last survivor of this group in Connecticut. When she died in 1857, she was buried in the Palisado Cemetery. The grave is at the rear of the cemetery, located on the left side of the road in an area with few markers.

Riverside Cemetery                                                                                                         

EAST STREET                   

                                                                                                              

Riverside Cemetery on East Street in Windsor, is our newest Freedom Trail site. A number of African American soldiers from the  Connecticut 29th and 31st colored regiments and other civil war units are buried there.