Danbury Place Names
In my capacity as head of the Local History Room I receive a number of questions about Danbury. One of the most frequently asked questions is the origin of street and sectional names. This week someone called up and wanted to know the origin of the name for Padanaram Avenue.
To answer this question one needs to consult two resources in our Local History Room collection. The first is a pamphlet that was done for the tricentennial of Danbury entitled Names-Places: How Danbury got some unusual ones by Imogene Heireth. The book states that "Padanaram is a Biblical name that came into use by early in the 19th century." The second book to use is entitled Connecticut Place Names by Arthur H. Hughes & Morse S. Allen. From this souce we learn that Padanaram in the Bible was the home of Jacob's wives Rebecca & Leah (Genesis 25 & 26). Next time you come into the library stop and explore the Local History Room.