Alignment of Streets
Most of the United States was surveyed along a grid due north-south and east-west lines, and major streets and highways tend to follow those lines. Connecticut was settled before that system was used, leading to each town developing according to its own plan. The original nine squares of New Haven were laid out to align with two streams flowing into the harbor, leading to the primary axis being not due north but approximately north-northeast. Since Whitney Avenue extended out from the nine squares into Hamden, connecting originally to Hartford Turnpike, it was natural for Hamden to adopt this alignment in some areas. This can be seen across the central part of town, where Main Street, Dunbar Hill Road, Corene Drive, Paradise Avenue, Denslow Hill Road, Mix Avenue, Dixwell Avenue, Whitney Avenue, Ridge Road, Hartford Turnpike, and State Street are all nearly on that same north-northeast alignment, mostly about a half mile apart.
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