Ten generations ago, just over a century before the American revolution, my family cofounded New Haven. Those first Trowbridges came to America four centuries ago in order to trade with the indigenous people for furs to export to Europe. About two centuries later, the family laid out this section of the city as a new working-class, low-income neighborhood. Another century passed and it was made into a historic district and placed on the national register of historic places. Another century and now I’m here visiting. This park marks the district’s center.