Most Americans don’t know why Connecticut has this strange panhandle. What made this small strip of land so important that they wanted to keep it? Well, it all started in 1650, when Dutch and English colonial leaders began marking out the western boundary of the Connecticut Colony. The boundary was drawn to extend north from Greenwich Bay, ensuring it stayed at least 10 miles away from the Hudson River. The border was further defined when King Charles II granted Connecticut a charter in 1662. However, a patent was issued to the Duke of York in 1664, that overlapped this grant, leading to nearly two decades of disputes, particularly with New York. At one point, tensions grew so high that the governor of New York issued arrest warrants for residents of border towns who pledged their allegiance to Connecticut. Finally, an agreement was reached in 1683, allowing Connecticut to keep a small strip of land along the Long Island Sound, including Greenwich, ensuring access to key ports, which later came to be known as the “Connecticut Panhandle.”