1. White Plains Road In February 1694, Thomas Lake purchased land on the east side of the natural grassy flood plains of the Pequonnock River near an area called The Falls. By 1705 White Plains Road, present-day Route 127, was laid out northerly past Lake's house to a natural rock outcropping called Pulpit Rock. Pulpit Rock is located north of the present-day intersection of White Plains Road and Unity Road. The first meetings of the Trumbull Congregational Church, established in 1730 as the Parish of Unity, were held at Pulpit Rock on White Plains Road. This church also served as a town meeting house until 1747 when a new church was built under the leadership of Rev. James Beebee. Merritt Parkway The Merritt Parkway was built directly through Trumbull in the late 1930s. Trumbull has the distinction of harboring the youngest original Parkway underpass (Frenchtown Road), built in 1942, and the oldest Parkway overpass (at White Plains Road), built in 1934. Constructed of reinforced concrete and encased steel-girder design at a cost of $47,532. It was financed by NRA grants and Connecticut Highway Department funds, the White Plains Road Overpass is not a typical Parkway structure. It was designed prior to the Parkway concept being adopted in 1934 and reflects the newer state highway bridges seen throughout Connecticut during the early 1930s. Upon completion of the Merritt, George Dunkelberger, the designer of all sixty-nine original bridges, was asked to sketch a bird's-eye view of a Parkway scene he particularly enjoyed. He chose the Park Avenue Underpass in Trumbull with the Sport Hill Road Underpass and Morehouse Highway Underpass in the distance. The sketch, with Park Avenue as a focal point, was used on the cover of the 1940 Highway Commissioner's Biennial Report. The Park Avenue Underpass was also used to symbolize the Parkway on the state of Connecticut's Anniversary Plate issued in 1943. Industries Mills At the August 1697 town meeting, John Seeley first proposed building a gristmill at the "narrows" of the Pequonnock River southward of Eassays Pond, but it took until July 1704 to come to terms with the town and finish construction. On January 26, 1703, the Stratford selectmen granted Ebeneezer Curtiss, James Lewis and Edmund Lewis, county surveyor, permission to erect a sawmill near Mischa Hill. In December 1709, Captain Judson and Captain Coe agreed to build a dam at the Falls of the Pequonnock River