Then & Now: The 'gore piece' that became a Center Conway park

What ultimately became a tiny park was nothing but a watering-trough stop for passing horses when the picture on the left was taken of the main road through Center Conway. Back when land was plentiful and property owners didn’t mind people taking a little liberty with it, the little triangle was formed by travelers from east and west taking a shortcut toward South Conway. After years of undisputed passage, the land left in the middle became public domain.

Such “gore” pieces might eventually become drainage swales or disappear under new turning lanes. One wide triangle used to divide the northbound and southbound entrances to the East Conway Road is right where the latest roundabout is planned, and in the 1950s the Quimby family lived in a little house that had been built in the middle of it. When that bifurcated entrance was joined into one, the house disappeared. A similar leftover piece of land lies between the entrance and outlet to the village of Redstone.