Nathan Hale Homestead [CT] One of the first of thousands of
patriots who would die in the war for American independence,
Hale is Connecticut's official State Hero. He was born and spent
most of the short life he courageously sacrificed on this
400-acre farm. Hale, a Yale-educated schoolteacher, was
commissioned a first lieutenant in the Continental Army in 1775.
A year later he volunteered to go behind British lines on Long
Island to gather military intelligence desperately needed by
General George Washington. The British captured Hale and, when
they discovered he was a spy, executed him. He was 21. In 1776,
Hale's father rebuilt the Homestead, which has changed little
since. Its furnishings include collections amassed by pioneer
Connecticut antiquarian George Dudley Seymour and several Hale
family possessions. The homestead offers exhibits and tours.