Southbury, Connecticut marked an important milestone on 06/06/2026 with the unveiling of its new Victory Town marker, the first to be installed in Connecticut as part of W3R-US’s Victory Towns initiative.
The unveiling was held in coordination with Southbury’s America 250 Commission and coincided with the Southbury Land Trust’s “Rochambeau Traverse,” a community walk commemorating the route taken by the Comte de Rochambeau and his French troops during the American Revolution. The event invited participants to walk part or all of a 6-mile route across Southbury, beginning near the Woodbury town line and continuing toward the Housatonic River crossing near Newtown.
The traverse included several stops with short history talks presented by Southbury Town Historian John Dwyer, who also serves on the Southbury America 250 Commission. The walk was led by Joe Ruggiero, President of the Southbury Land Trust, with transportation provided for participants at multiple ending points along the route.
The Southbury Historical Society played a key role in bringing the marker to town, handling the W3R application and payment, coordinating delivery, and guiding the sign through local building, zoning, and Department of Public Works processes.
The new marker recognizes Southbury’s place along the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail and helps connect the community’s local landscape to the larger story of the Franco-American alliance and the march to Yorktown.
Photographs from the event were taken by Gosia Liedlich, the Town of Southbury’s Digital Communications Specialist.
