The solid blue line on Map 2 represents LANE's border between
Eastern and Western New England. The English settlement of the
area east of the blue line began at Boston and Plymouth and
other settlements along the Atlantic coast, and moved west and
north from there; west of the line, settlements began along Long
Island Sound and moved north. The area of TLN corresponds
roughly to Western New England, with notable gaps in the
Hartford and Springfield areas and in the southwestern corner of
Massachusetts. The lines weave in and out of each other in
Vermont, but the E/W border is less secure there as Vermont was
settled later than the rest of New England and included
populations from both the West and East regions. The string of
red spots in western Connecticut follows the Housatonic River,
which was at one time one of the main routes of settlement and
travel in Western New England. This suggests that full
neutralization of marry-merry-Mary may, in this area, have
originated in Bridgeport, at the mouth of the riv