Bozrah Name Letterboxes (2)
Bozrah, CT
New London County
Difficulty: Easy
Planted by Bonnie and Clyde Gang, June 2002

1 Hour Loop at Bear Hill Wildlife Management Area. Please wear blaze orange from Oct. - May.

STORY:
This series of 2 boxes is being planted in honor of Bozrah's name. There is no other town in the United States by the name of Bozrah. It is indeed a Biblical name, and is mentioned in Micah: 2, 12: "I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, a the flock in the midst of their fold; they shall make a great noise by reason of the multitude of men." On the other hand, in Jeremiah: 49, 13, the account of Bozrah is not so pleasant, "I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that Bozrah become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, a curse." However, legend has it that Bozrah was named by the following account.

Bozrah was originally named New Concord in 1737 as a Fourth Society of Norwich. It remained so until the citizens in 1786 requested to become a separate town from Norwich. They wanted their "new" town to be named "Bath" after the famous and glamourous spa town in England. The people sent a representative to appear before the General Assembly in Hartford to make the request. According to the story, the chosen man was somewhat eccentric and wore brightly colored dyed clothes to appear before the Assembly. When the Assembly members saw him, they thought of the verse from Isaiah 63,I: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" The members ignored the request of "Bath" and incorporated the town with the name of "Bozrah."

There are indeed Bozrahs in the world such as a remote desert town in Syria and a Bozrah in Bosnia. But the residents of Bozrah can boast that their town name is the only one in the US.


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