In the 1920s, State Highway 103 followed today's Route 14 from Route 12 into Rhode Island.

Commissioned in 1932, the old Route 103 was a 2.39-mile route entirely within Wilton, leading north from the Norwalk town line to a point 2.13 miles north of Route 33, along Chestnut Hill Road and Hurlbutt Street. In other words, it had two dangling ends (though town roads continued) and only intersected one other highway. No other signed route was like this.

Bigger plans for Route 103

The old Route 103 was eliminated in 1963 as part of the statewide Route Reclassification. However, short-lived changes in 1962 made the area look, for a short time, quite different. Here's what happened in 1962:

• Sharp Hill Rd and Hurlbutt St (part of today's Route 106 east of US 7) was designated SR 747
• Cedar Rd and Norfield Rd (part of today's Route 53, from Route 106 to Route 57) was designated SR 741
• Route 103 was extended north to SR 747, and south to US 1. In other words, Route 103, not Route 53, leading to Norwalk.

I don't know whether these changes were ever signed. A year later, in 1963, Route 53 was extended south as we see today, Route 103 was replaced, and Route 106 was extended to Route 53.

The Modern Route 103

The modern Route 103 was promoted from two secret routes on Dec. 24, 1987: SR 720 (north half) and SR 750 (south). Until the late 1960s, the north half was part of US 5A.