Eagle Rock, Hebron

The Damned Story: Sitting proudly along the eastbound lane of Route 66 in the area of the Hebron-Marlborough border is Eagle Rock, a painted and patriotic landmark that has been watching over cars cruising up and down the road since 1989.

Local resident Jason Sawyer originally painted the rock because, as he told WFSB a few years ago, “it looked like an eagle’s head because of the way the crack on the Marlborough side of the rock kind of formed.”

The rock has become a landmark and a source of pride in town. It has gone through various incarnations, including a frog and a shark. Re-painting it has been taken on various locals, including the Bordick family, who in 2011 did the paint job that is currently seen. According to the WFSB report, Andy Bordick is responsible for adding reflective paint to the eagle’s eyes—so when driving past at night, motorists see a giant eye peeering at them from the side of the road.

Hopefully, the eagle will continue to watch over drivers for decades to come.

Our Damned Experience: We’ve passed Eagle Rock numerous times, finally stopping to snap a few pics. As anyone who has driven past it can tell you, it’s on a narrow, non-descript rural stretch of the road so the cars that go by are usually pushing the upper end of the speed limit (to be kind), which makes stopping a bit of a challenge.

We did manage to pull over for a minute or two to snap a few pics—from the relative safety of our car! Sorry, but even with our damned insurance up to date, getting out there and hanging around doesn’t seem like a particularly prudent thing to do.

And with all due respect—it is only a painted rock, so there’s not a lot to see. Although it’s damned cool rock and we really appreciate the effort in creating it and keeping it looking good.

If You Go: As mentioned previously, Eagle Rock is on the eastbound side of Route 66 on the Marlborough-Hebron line, and as you can see from the picture above, it is located less than 5 feet from the roadway—and very hard to miss. There are no sidewalks or any particularly safe place to stop and park,

If you do feel compelled to stop and take a picture, we cannot stress enough—PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND PAY ATTENTION TO TRAFFIC. Again, cars can come through here very quickly, and with the twists and dips in the road, they will be upon you before they even realize you’re there. Please use your emergency flashers and pull over as far to the side as you can.

Ultimately, it’s probably best to stay in your car and admire it as you pass. Heck, if you feel inspired to salute an American (and Connecticut) icon as you pass, please do—sounds like a damned great idea to us!

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!