Like many of its Litchfield-area neighbors, Kent (pop. 2,918) had a thriving iron industry until competition from larger Pennsylvania mines—with better access to post–Civil War markets—forced the local furnace to close. Now it’s a bustling, upscale market town, its main street (US-7) lined with antique shops, galleries, and boutiques that have replaced blacksmith shops and wheelwrights. The area’s transition from industry to leisure is implicit in the unusual displays inside the Sloane-Stanley Museum (Wed.–Sun. 10 am–4 pm; $4; 860/927-3849), located along US-7 a mile north of Kent, near the ruins of an early-American iron foundry. The collection consists mainly of old tools—planes of all shapes and sizes, plus handsaws, augers, clamps, and other woodworking devices—all arranged by local artist and author Eric Sloane (1905–1985), whose books and prints are available in the gift shop. The “Stanley” in the museum’s name comes (surprise, surprise) from the famous Stanley tool company, based in nearby New Britain, which donated the land and the museum building. Stanley tools make up a significant portion of the collection, but many others are handmade tools, some of which date back to days when colonial-era craftsmen forged their own tools to suit their specific needs.
Kent Falls State Park, along US-7 about four miles north of the museum, is a nice place to take a break from behind the wheel. Along with the namesake cascade, which is most impressive after a rain, the park includes a short path through dense woods.
Running south of Kent, parallel to US-7 for about six miles along the west bank of the Housatonic River, Schagticoke Road is a slower, much more scenic route that gives an up-close look at the rugged geology beneath the trees. The route crosses the Schagticoke Indian Reservation and passes an old Indian cemetery before rejoining US-7 via a covered bridge on Bulls Bridge Road, three miles north of Gaylordsville.
The Appalachian Trail crosses the New York state line near Bull’s Bridge south of Kent, and so should you, making your way west to Route 22 or the Taconic State Parkway if you want to enjoy a landscape that offers more fields and trees than guardrails and parking lots. Technically speaking, there’s still a large swath of New England between New York and New Milford, but most of this has more in common with the Indianapolis beltway than with the Vermont countryside.
