On May 17, 2006, Jim Doolittle, Research Soil Scientist from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, (NRCS), returned to Connecticut for his annual visit to assist state archaeologist Nick Bellantoni in identifying underground archaeological features with ground penetrating radar (GPR).

The first site visited was the South Windsor Town Farm next to the Connecticut River at the west end of Ferry Lane, a/k/a Sperry Road.

This site was first occupied in 1641 when John Bissell established a ferry to bring his cattle to the pastures on the east side of the Connecticut River. A house was built in 1658 and has undergone several reconstructions over the years. It was in the Bissell family until 1816. In 1851 it was purchased by the town of South Windsor for an almshouse and town farm until it returned to private hands by 1927. The ferry had originally been located north of the mouth of the Scantic River but was subsequently moved south of the river and closer to the Town Farm.

Although the acreage is still farmed, it once contained a saw mill, shipyard, distillery, and was a favored spot for fishing for salmon and shad. In May the GPR survey was done to locate some of the features remaining on the site. Three grids were laid out with metric dimensions. Traverses were done along the grids at 50 cm intervals. The total area surveyed was 3,540 square meters. The June 6, 2006 report showed the locations of two underground foundations and a feature believed to be a well. Jim Doolittle completed the interpretation of the features using software that produces profiles of the area as well as three dimensional plots. The report, complete with eight figures, is on file at the Connecticut Archaeology Center.