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Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc.

Name: Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc.
Address: 350 Main Street, Old Saybrook, CT, 06475, US
Telephone: (860) 395-1635
Rating: 5

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Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc.

Gen. William Hart House and Garden, Frank Stevenson Archives and Martha Davis Soper Research Library, which has over 2000 titles.

On September 11, 1958 a handful of interested residents formed the first Old Saybrook Historical Society. Their concern that the oldest town on the shoreline had “many valuable records, diaries, letters that had already been lost, scattered, or destroyed and that there should be no further delay in making a start toward collecting and saving what is still available.”

Operating as usual

09/26/2022

THE KATE, THE TOWN HALL, A MINI-HISTORY

In the early 1900s there was a small group of amateur entertainers in town known as the Cornet Band. Among them was Herbert Stokes who played the baritone horn. He and his brother Frederick owed the Stokes General Store on the corner of Sheffield and Main. There was also Guiles Bushnell who played the alto horn. He was the director of the Deep River National Bank and the treasurer of the town of Old Saybrook. He was also the owner of the land where the Kate now stands, just a block down from the Stokes General Store.

Also in town in the early 1900s was the newly formed Musical and Dramatic Club. The founder was Joseph Andrews Cone, a writer, local printer, poet and amateur musician. One principal club member and organizer was wealthy Patricia Wightman, a native of Australia and “prominent local citizen, active in politics and art.” She and her well-to-do husband, Richard Wightman Jr. lived in New York City. They made his family’s summer home in Old Saybrook their primary residence when his father retired in the early 1900s. Their close family friend, William Howard Taft, who in 1909 was elected President, would visit Pat’s summer home in Old Saybrook on various occasions along with fellow Republican Senator Morgan Bulkeley, whose cottage was in Fenwick.

Pat Wightman and Joe Cone helped incorporate their club in 1908 and decided to build “the largest theater along the Connecticut shore.” They then joined forces with the Cornet Band members and convinced Guiles Bushnell to donate his land for the building of the theater.

Jointly the two clubs began fundraising concerts. Unfortunately the funds proved inadequate for their vision and the organizers turned once again to Guiles Bushnell. In late 1909 he made a deal with the Town of Old Saybrook to transfer the land he had just donated to the club to the town for the purposes of building a combination town hall and theater. The town hall would occupy the basement of the new building and the theater would occupy the first floor and upper levels. The building was erected with joint funds in 1910-1911 for a reported $11,000. (That same year the Comstock-Cheney Ivory factory in Ivoryton built their employee recreation hall. That building became the Ivoryton Playhouse.)

The basement of the building contained the town court room, the police department and jail, and assorted administrative town offices. The theater’s upper floors were entered through the stately columns where the orchestra section of the theater held 311 seats and the balcony an additional 62.

In 1911 the electric trolley line had come to Old Saybrook and the automobile and trolley bridge across the Connecticut River had just been completed. Visitors flocked to the town. The theater/town hall had become an overnight success with dances, concerts, political debates and meetings, even silent movies where high school student Dorothy Stokes accompanied the movies with the piano.

But the Great Depression ended the good times and by 1935 the Musical and Dramatic Club dissolved their assets and the theater was taken over by the Town. Occasionally the old stage was used as a rehearsal space for actors appearing at the Ivoryton Playhouse but there were no more performances. The red brick Main Street School began construction in 1936. It would eventually become the new Town Hall. But it would not be until 2005 that renovation construction for what is now the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center would begin. The Kate opened in 2009, 100 years after the original theater/town hall was built.

This is one of the many historic archive-treasures found at the Old Saybrook Historical Society. The OSHS is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the history of Old Saybrook. Follow us on Facebook, become a member, and visit our site for updates, events, and Saybrook history articles. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

09/19/2022

STEPHEN POST AND POST GRAPE-NUTS, A MINI-HISTORY

Stephen Post (1596-1659, 63yrs.) was born in England and died in Saybrook. He first arrived in Boston and was one of the many notable men who followed Rev. Thomas Ho**er to what is now Harford in 1636. One of his traveling companions was Rev. Stephen Hart (1602-1682, 77yrs.), who fostered the Old Saybrook Hart family and fame.

Stephen Post started his family in Hartford and then moved down to Saybrook and lived there the rest of his life. His daughter Katharine married Saybrook’s Alexander Chalker in 1649. His youngest son, Abraham, was appointed Lieutenant in command of Saybrook Fort in 1680. His oldest sons John and Thomas were among the first settlers to leave Saybrook and settle Norwich.

Five generations later in 1895, his descendant C.W. (Charles William) Post founded the Postum Cereal Company which made the Postum cereal beverage. Two years later he invented Grape-Nuts Cereal. It was first marketed as a health food especially for the development of strong brains. A 1903 print ad read as follows:

Brains Repaired Here. Brains rule the world. Americans have brains. They think big things. They think money. The brain is the tool that does the big things and makes the money. The brain must be fed on the proper food or it will grow sluggish and dull. Can’t work with dull tools. GRAPE-NUTS. The most scientific tool in the world (ask any physician) will sharpen and strengthen the brain. No stomach is so delicate it will not accept Grape-Nuts. Give the brain a chance. Feed it on Grape-Nuts.

C. W. Post’s only child was Marjorie Merriweather Post who married financier E. F. Hutton. They ran her father’s Postum Cereal Company and later founded General Foods. Her Long Island estate became C.W. Post College. Mar-a-Lago, her Palm Beach home, is now the Florida home of Donald Trump. It was all started in Saybrook.

This is one of the many historic archive treasures found at the Old Saybrook Historical Society. The OSHS is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the history of Old Saybrook. Follow us on Facebook, become a member, and visit our site for updates, events, and Saybrook history articles. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

09/15/2022

MARK THE DATE: Next month, Sunday, October 23, A free forum at the Kate about Miss James and Ann Petry , 2pm

The Historical Society will host a free public forum featuring a panel of scholars who will make brief presentations. There will be opportunities for questions and comments from the audience. The forum is an extension of the Society’s exhibit about Anna James and Ann Petry: Family Matters: Insights and Inspiration from Miss James and Ann Petry.

Farah Jasmine Griffin, will be the featured speaker at the October 23 public forum. Later this month she will be honored at a special conference in her honor at Yale University, September 23-24. It will be "an historic gathering of world renowned speakers, panels, and musical performances in celebration of the path-breaking scholarship of Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin, Yale PhD ‘92."

Yale states that "this gathering will mark Professor Griffin’s extraordinary academic and public-facing achievements as a Black feminist culture critic as well as her longstanding commitment to cutting-edge research and passionate, transformative mentorship which have galvanized an entire generation of scholars working in literary studies, cultural studies, and jazz studies.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIZVA8t8zrE&authuser=0

09/14/2022

A SPECIAL, LIMITED-TIME OFFER TO FRIENDS OF THE OLD SAYBROOK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Between October 1st and December 17th a one-week stay (Sat. to Sat.) at a 3-bedroom condo on scenic Siesta Key, in Sarasota, FL.

The price is $1785 (that’s $255/night). First come-first served. Proceeds are payable to the Old Saybrook Historical Society. If interested, call Leslie at 203-910-8730 or email her at [email protected] to agree on the exact date of your Saturday-to-Saturday week in Florida.

First-come-first-served. As soon as someone has booked the condo, we will email an announcement to everyone and close the offer.

The condo is The Anchorage Yacht and Tennis Club, 6415 Midnight Pass Road, Sarasota, FL. It’s a newly renovated, 2400 sq. ft. 5th floor condo with Gulf views and a 70 ft. balcony. No pets and no infants. Olympic size swimming pool and a private beach access to one of Florida’s most scenic west coast Gulf of Mexico beaches.

09/12/2022

FOUNDERS MEMORIAL PARK, A MINI-HISTORY

Decades ago there was a garbage dump at the end of Coulter Street. The accumulating mountain of garbage was ultimately buried and became a landfill. Today that landfill is a manicured bluff overlooking the marshes of North Cove, named the Founders Memorial Park. It affords visitors an unequalled panorama of North Cove and the surrounding marshes. A town dump still exists there but it now just collects leaves for composting.

The park was a long time in the making and owes its existence to an unlikely collaboration among several state and local volunteer groups, town boards, state commissions and a former resident and property owner Robert Clarke. He was a descendant of one of the founding families of Saybrook.

In 1933, Robert Slosson Clarke deeded land he owned to the town to establish the park. But it would be another 75 years of debate, votes, budget discussions and committee deliberations before the dump was finally closed and buried to become a landfill. Clarke, living in California, died the year before the park was dedicated in 2008. On the bluff today is a sign that has the following dedication:

"The independent Saybrok Colony, one of the four original colonies of New England, was founded at Saybrook Point in 1635. The founding families and early settlers of Saybrook numbered 110 by 1660. These pioneers were courageous and adventuresome in choosing to inhabit new territory, and it is fitting that succeeding generations of Old Saybrook residents honor the spirit and commitment of the Founders of Saybrook Colony.

One of the earliest families was that of John Ckarke and his son John Clarke Jr., both born in England. They settled in Saybrook in 1644. Both Clarkes were rewarded with parcels of land for their valorous service in the Pequot War. Such rewards to soldiers were a common practice in colonial times. Nine generations of Clarke descendants lived continuously in Saybrook until recently.

In 1933, Robert Slosson Clarke (1911-2007) and his late brother Elisha Yale Clarke (1911-1979) deeded the land on which you are standing to the town of Old Saybrook in order to establish Founders Memorial Park. A park to honor the founding families of the Colony was the vision of Robert Slosson Clarke; just as his distant ancestors were awarded land for their service to the Saybrook Colony, Mr. Clarke has given this land to the people of Old Saybrook as a memorial to all of its founding families."

The Old Saybrook Historical Society is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the history of Old Saybrook. Follow us on Facebook, become a member, and visit our site for updates, events, and Saybrook history articles. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

09/10/2022

NEW HOURS FOR THE HART HOUSE

The Gen. William Hart House museum and exhibit gallery will be open to visitors only on Sundays, 1-3PM until October 9. Tours are $5 per person, free to members.

Special appointment non-Sunday tours can be arranged by calling 860-388-1635 five days in advance. These tours are $10 per person.

09/08/2022

MARK THE DATE: Next month, Sunday, October 23, A free forum at the Kate about Miss James and Ann Petry , 2pm

Sunday, October 23, at 2:00 p.m. a free forum at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center about Miss James and Ann Petry, 2PM

The Historical Society will host a free public forum featuring a panel of scholars who will make brief presentations. There will be opportunities for questions and comments from the audience. The forum is an extension of the Society’s exhibit about Anna James and Ann Petry: Family Matters: Insights and Inspiration from Miss James and Ann Petry.

The forum is funded by the Sari A. Rosenbaum Fund of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County to support programs that empower Middlesex County women and girls to be self-reliant and reach their potential. The remarkable life and times of both Anna James and her niece Ann Petry are emblematic of this fund’s mission.

09/06/2022

09/05/2022

THE SOCIETY’S LONGCASE CLOCK, A MINI-HISTORY

The longcase or grandfather clock beside the fireplace in the Hart House was donated to the Old Saybrook Historical Society by Sallie Boody. It was her mother, Martha Soper, who owned the clock, but little is known about its history.

A grandfather clock is also called a longcase clock, tall-case clock or floor clock There are also grandmother and granddaughter clocks, which are slightly shorter in height. All have pendulums powered by the gravitational pull of heavy weights.
This particular clock was made in London by John Meredith around 1750. Meredith’s name is on the face of the clock. The clock has an hour, minute, and second hand. It chimes on the hour. It also numbers the day of the month. It was an intricate piece of engineering in 1750. It is powered by heavy weights that take about a week to drop before rewinding is needed. No one is certain when this clock made it to the American colonies.

It was made approximately 100 years after English clockmaker William Clement introduced the Royal Pendulum longcase clock, the most advanced and accurate clock made at that date. English clocks were the preeminent early clocks. It was not until about 1685 that the first “immigrant” longcase clocks, based on Clement’s Royal Pendulum, crossed the Atlantic. By around 1700 the production of American-made grandfather clocks had begun.

Colonial clocks like this in the 1700s were a novelty and a symbol of luxury, but certainly not a necessity because there was no need for precise timekeeping. In the 1700s time was set by local village sundials or “noon-marks” carved into colonial windowsills. Mid-day (i.e. the shortest shadow on the sundial) was accepted as noon but everyone’s noontime was different. As the sun moved west across the land, “noon” occurred at different times. Boston’s noontime was different from New York’s noontime. But no one cared because schedules were no more precise than “the morning ferryboat” or the late afternoon stage coach.” Sunday services were announced by the ringing of bells. Town meetings were announced by word of mouth. Crops were planted by the season. Calendars were based on the phases of the moon and tides.

Local time was an imprecise novelty until the mid-1800s when the railroads required more precise schedules between towns and cities, especially as they moved westward. The solution was to rely on the noon sun, but only in one location. That location was the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The precise astronomical time was then distributed to the railroad stations by telegraph. The first public time service, introduced in 1851, was wired from the Harvard Observatory to stations like Saybrook Junction for setting the correct “railroad” time of day. Eventually towns everywhere adopted “railroad” time as their local time, and sundials became outdated as official timekeepers. Then there were dozens of railroad time zones across the country. In 1883 the government decided to establish just four official national time zones for the entire country, starting with the noon sun above Harvard.

At the 1884 International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C., the entire globe was divided into 24 time zones. Signatories chose the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England (the prime meridian, zero degrees longitude), as the official noontime, and the U.S. no longer used the sun above Harvard to set their clocks.

This is one of the many historic archive treasures found at the Old Saybrook Historical Society. The OSHS is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the history of Old Saybrook. Follow us on Facebook, become a member, and visit our site for updates, events, and Saybrook history articles. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

08/29/2022

CAPTAIN E. E. MORGAN, SAYBROOK’S COMMANDER OF PACKET SHIPS

Elisha Ely Morgan was Old Saybrook’s most famous sea captain. He formed friendships with many wealthy, powerful and famous people including English novelist Charles Dickens. Read more about Captain Morgan, the profitable packet ships of the 1800s, and his life as a celebrity in both London and Old Saybrook. Visit: saybrookhistory.org/captain-morgan/

08/24/2022

THE WITNESS STONES PROJECT
The Historical Society has joined with the Old Saybrook School System and the Witness Stones Project to celebrate Rose Jackson who lived in the Hart House and was a beloved companion to the Hart family. She is buried in the Cypress Cemetery. The Society is working with Robert Labriola, a middle school teacher and the town’s school system liaison with the Witness Stones Project.

The Witness Stones Project™ is a non-profit educational initiative whose mission is to recognize and honor the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. The Project helps individual local school systems discover and chronicle their local history of slavery. The final component of the work in each community is the placement of Witness Stone Memorials™ which are permanent landscape markers that honor individuals where they lived, worked, or worshiped.

A Witness Stone Memorial will be placed on the Historical Society’s campus in the spring of 2023 to commemorate the life of Rose Jackson. It will be the first Witness Stone in Old Saybrook. Students will be researching Rose Jackson’s life and their findings will be part of the Historical Society’s archives material. The Witness Stones Project was founded in Guilford in 2017 and has now partnered with 79 schools in 39 towns in all 8 Connecticut counties.

08/22/2022

OLIVER GRAHAM’S POWDER HORN, A MINI-HISTORY

This story starts with a 17-year old Saybrook youth named Oliver Graham who in 1775 enlisted in the Connecticut State Militia to fight in the Revolutionary War. He would have been under the command of 29-year old Maj. William Hart, who commanded the largest cavalry unit in the state. Oliver Graham started in Connecticut and fought his way north into Vermont. He was shot in the chest, injured by a falling tree, captured by the British and imprisoned in Canada. He then joined the British army, probably to save his life. Later, he cleverly managed to procure an American army pension, yet he married a Canadian and inherited a large tract of free, post-war land in Canada. He lived in Canada with his son and daughter until 1834, when the 76-year old Revolutionary War veteran was murdered by a mentally ill neighbor. While a soldier he carved a powder horn with this inscription,
Oliver Graham it tis my name
At Saybrook I was born
When this you see Remember me
if I am dead and gon.

He is still remembered almost 250 years later. The horn came back to Old Saybrook 26 years ago when a collector who saw the word “Saybrook” donated it to the Historical Society.

In 2014, Pamela Vittoria, an associate professor at the New School in New York City, and a professional genealogist, saw a watercolor sketch of Oliver Graham’s powder horn in the New York Historical Society’s archives. In the 1880s an artist named Grider had sketched numerous powder horns to preserve their craftsmanship and art before they all disappeared. When Pamela saw the sketch of her ancestral name “Graham” on the horn next to “Saybrook,” she started calling and eventually found the actual horn at the Historical Society. Both the Grider watercolor sketch and the powder horn are on display at the Society’s Hart House.

The Hart House contains numerous colonial antiques, historical artifacts and portraits as well as an exhibit gallery now featuring the lives of Old Saybrook’s beloved pharmacist, Anna James, and her famous niece, author Ann Petry. This exhibit is free to visit. The house and exhibit are open each Saturday and Sunday from 1-3PM, or by appointment by calling 860-395-1635 at least 5 days in advance. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

08/16/2022

Sunday, August 28, Bar-B-Q at Bushnell Farm Fundraiser, 5-7pm
The Society’s annual Hosting-for-History fundraiser will be held under the tent at the historic Bushnell Farm, 1445 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook. The Bar-B-Q at Bushnell Farm will offer spectacular food supplied by Porky Pete’s BBQ in Essex. Beer and wine will be available plus entertainment by the Rhode Island Fiddlers. Bring a friend.

Tickets are $100 per person AND MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE.

To purchase tickets on-line, visit: saybrookhistory.org/events/
To pay by check, visit the Archives Building, 350 Main Street on Tuesday or Thursday mornings, or mail check to The Old Saybrook Historical Society, PO Box 4, Old Saybrook, CT 06475 and tickets will be mailed to you.

08/15/2022

THE FENWICK DEPOT, A MINI-HISTORY

In the summer of 1870 a group of Hartford investors decided that the quaint village downriver named Old Saybrook would be an excellent location for developing a summer resort for wealthy Hartford residents, of whom there were many. They formed the New Saybrook Company and purchased over 200 acres of land now known as the Borough of Fenwick. These investors were also working closely with the owners of the Connecticut Valley Railroad. The resort investors knew the railroad would play a critical role in the development of their proposed summer resort. The Charter Oak Life Insurance Company was the primary financial backer of both the New Saybrook Company and the railroad.

The first train arrived in 1871 but stopped at Saybrook Point because the rail tracks to Fenwick were still being completed. Visitors to the new Fenwick Hall Hotel crossed a wooden carriage bridge to reach the hotel or were ferried across South Cove to a dock at Folly Point. The next year however, the tracks to Fenwick were completed and a depot was constructed on the edge of South Cove at the end of Nibang Avenue, where visitors could walk up the hill to the Fenwick Hall Hotel.

Four decades later the New Saybrook Company was defunct, the railroad bankrupt, and the train tracks to Fenwick abandoned. Shortly before turning the tracks into a causeway for cars (now Bridge Street) they decided to save the depot and transport it across South Cove to Saybrook Point. In 1916 the depot became a railroad storage barn and later a restaurant called The Pantry. The Connecticut Valley Railroad removed all their facilities from Saybrook Point in the early 1920s. The old depot/Pantry restaurant probably disappeared in the 1930s.

This is one of the many historic archive treasures found at the Old Saybrook Historical Society. The OSHS is dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the history of Old Saybrook. Follow us on Facebook, become a member, and visit our site for updates, events, and Saybrook history articles. Visit: saybrookhistory.org

Address

350 Main Street
Old Saybrook, CT
06475

General information

We are a non-profit, all volunteer, tax-exempt organization with over 350 members from across the USA whose mission is to investigate, preserve and maintain collections in archeology, furniture, genealogy, and historic records of the Town of Old Saybrook while encouraging the study and appreciation of this historical heritage -especially by the young people of the area. The restored General William Hart House (1767), Frank Stevenson Archives, and the historic gardens comprise a one-acre “campus” in the village that is home to the Society.

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 12pm
Thursday	9am - 12pm

Telephone

(860) 395-1635

Website

http://www.saybrookhistory.org

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Dedicated to Preserving, Protecting and Promoting the History of Old Saybrook

The Old Saybrook Historical Society welcomes and invites you to navigate our website and discover what we have to offer! The rich history of Old Saybrook found in historical homes, artifacts, documents, letters, etc. was in danger of disappearing or being destroyed if an organization to implement the preservation of these items was not formed. A group of twenty concerned citizens decided to address this serious problem by creating the Old Saybrook Historical Society in 1958. Under the able direction of the first president, Frank Tinsley, a noted historian, author and scientific illustrator, a formal Constitution incorporating the Society was established in 1966.

Hart House is open May 15 to December 15 for tours by appointment. June 15 to August 31 - Saturdays & Sundays 1:00 to 3:00pm

Nearby museums

Florence Griswold Museum
Old Lyme
Florence Griswold House and Museum
Old Lyme
Connecticut River Museum
Main Street, Essex
Connecticut River Museum
Essex
The Company of Fifers & Drummers
N Main Street, Ivoryton
Thomas Lee House and Museum
Niantic
Thomas lee house and museum
Niantic
Clinton Historical Society
East Main Street, Clinton
The Adam Stanton House
E Main Street, Clinton
East Haddam Historical Society & Museum
Town Street, East Haddam
Killingworth Historical Society, Killingworth
, Killingworth
East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation
3rd Street, Greenport
Haddam Historical Society-Thankful Arnold Hou
Hayden Hill Road, Haddam

Other Old Saybrook museums

Old Saybrook Town Hall and Theater
Gen. William Hart House
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center an
Meandering Photography
06475

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Comments

This is a wonderful article by the Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc. about the history of 300 Main Street, home of the Kate!

A bit of Lynde Point Lighthouse history from our friends at the Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc.

Did you know that Old Saybrook was home to the 1st woman pharmacist in Connecticut? Anna Louise James, or “Miss James,” owned & ran James Pharmacy for over 50 years on Pennywise Lane. Learn more about this groundbreaker: bit.ly/37bxvvB

Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc. Connecticut Humanities

"OLD SAYBROOK —The sixth annual Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc. Achievement in Historical Preservation Award was presented to Jessica and Lincoln May for the restoration work on their Dudley Building on the corner of Main Street and Dudley Avenue. The Mays own Saybrook Hardware as well as the entire building, which houses three other Main Street businesses.

The annual award recognizes extraordinary individuals or groups who have contributed to the preservation of the rich history of Old Saybrook."

Congratulations to Jessica and Lincoln on this recognition!

Scarecrow14! Haunted creatures are hanging out at the Old Saybrook Historical Society, Inc. 🧟

Vote today for your favorite scarecrow. Text scarecrow and ID number to 877.944.3266
Example: scarecrow14
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Kerry Geffert

I was wondering who were the original owners of the Ford dealership on 1 ford drive.

Does anyone have any history of Chief Walter Patti and all his accomplishments?

Here is an article about Connecticut River's Worst Ice Jam in twenty Year, Jan 25-6, 1957. By Roger Epply, 1993.

The coast guard icebreaker is little publicized as an important "assist" to vessels on the Connecticut river during the winter months. Not all of this aid is sensational and headline-making but it is, nevertheless, extremely important to the vessels involved, and a valuable activity of the Coast Guard personnel.

The icebreaker is a stubby, powerful craft that smashes through ice-choked channels, breaking way for river traffic. Usually the icebreaker precedes the vessel it is assisting, clearing a way directly ahead of the tanker or tug.

the mode of the icebreakers operation is interesting. It crushes the ice flow, rather than cutting it, by smashing it with the ship's bow. To withstand shock, this bow is covered with steel plates over an inch and one-half thick. The plates are slanted back so that the bow will ride up onto the ice. After impact, water ballast is shifted forward so that tons of weight bear down upon the sheet ice, breaking it under impact and pressure. The cutter then backs away for another assault.

Such an icebreaker played an important role on Friday, and Saturday of the week of January 20, 1957. She was name Manitou, but was officially known in the coast Guard as CG Cutter W 60. The Manitou is 110 ft. long has 1000 HP diesel-electric motors, and operate out of the Third Coast Guard District, New York. She was commanded by Chief Boatswain H. J. Hacker, and had been patrolling the river for over a week before the big ice jam started.

The O.S.H.S has a wonderful research library for your use. However, because of Covid it is currently open only by appointment. We have a number of materials that are useful to those who are researching the Old Saybrook area including those towns that were originally part of the original Saybrook Colony.

We have the Vital Records of Saybrook from it's inception up through 1937.

We have a great assortment of local family histories, genealogies and maps.

There are collections of pictures of most of the old houses of Old Saybrook, as well as a wonderful post card collection.

There are family files with various different materials including manuscripts and family trees.

We have the Probate records of the town from 1898 to about 1940. These are the original copies of the records that were in the town Hall.

There is something there for just about everyone.

As the Archivist of the Old Saybrook Historical Society, I am VERY Proud to be descended from at least ONE of Saybrook's most prominent citizens, Nathaniel Lynde, Esq.

Nathaniel Lynde came to Saybrook upon the death of his father Simon Lynde, of Boston, Massachusetts when his father left him his estate in Saybrook, which consisted of about 650 acres of land in Fenwick, Fenwood and Cornfield Point. He also owned quite a bit of land on the " neck' specifically where the cemetery is now located. He donated land and books to the Collegiate school which would become Yale College.

Nathaniel was very wealthy, but after his death and his land was divided up among his heirs, they didn't manage his wealth too well, much of it was either lost in land speculation or useless business enterprises that never made a profit. The area which is now Fenwick became " New Saybrook and the land was divided up into parcels for summer cottages and the Fenwick Hall which is no longer in existence. There are still many descendants that live in the area and still own portions of the original land in Essex and Chester, but I do not know any Lynde family members that live on the Neck or in Fenwick.

The Saybrook Round House - What was it?

The six stall 1871 round house at Saybrook Point was constructed of wood and was destroyed by fire on Tuesday night, June 4, 1895. It was replaced with a six stall brick round house that was first used on Monday, December 13, 1895, but after 28 years, it was reported that the round house was going to be dismantled.

The land that it was built on, was it purchased or taken by eminent domain ?

The land was purchased by the railroad company, none of the land was taken.

What was the name of the first steam Engine ??

Engine #1 - J.C. Walkley
Engine #2 - Hartford
Engine #3 - Middletown
Engine #4 - Haddam
Engine #5 - Essex
Engine #6 - Lady Fenwick.

Who built the railroad ???

The prime contractor was Dillon and Clyde of New York City whom subcontracted most of the work to smaller contractors. The majority of the laborers were of Irish decent.

The following is information that was requested by the North Cove Park Committee of Old Saybrook, regarding the railroad that was once prominent in Old Saybrook. The following will be questions and answers to them: FYI.

Question: What was the date of the first run ?

Answer: The first run was a northbound, by invitation, trip from Saybrook Point to D**e station (near Colts Patented Fi****ms factory) in Hartford on July 29, 1871. Train service between Fenwick and Saybrook Point was eventually abandoned on Sunday, September 16, 1915. The right of way between Fenwick and Saybrook Point Junction ceased on Monday, April 18, 1931. Train service between Saybrook Junction was abandoned on July 18, 1922. The last piece of track between these points was removed on January 7, 1927.

Here is how the Original Saybrook Colony was chopped up into Seven Different Towns:

1635 - Settlement at Saybrook Point by Lieutenant Gibbons and Sergeant Willard as the advance party for Governor John Winthrop, Jr.

1636 - First use of the name "Saybrook" in letter from Lion Gardiner to John Winthrop.

1648 - Saybrook divided into quarters - east side of Ct river, later Lyme; Oyster River Section, Later Westbrook, and Eight Mile Meadow, Potopaug (later Essex, Deep River and Chester)

1659 - The General Court approved a petition from a group of 20 families form Saybrook to establish a plantation in Norwich.

1665 - Lyme broke off from Saybrook in a " Loving Parting"

1678 - New Meeting House for the First Ecclesiastical Society vote in Saybrook.

1722 - Second Ecclesiastical Society formed in Centerbrook

1724 - Oyster River Quarter formed the Third Society.

1740 - Fourth Ecclesiastical Society authorized for Chester.

1836 - Incorporation of Chester as a separate town.

1840 - Incorporation of Westbrook as a separate town

1852 - Essex and Old Saybrook set off from Saybrook (the area named Deep River) and incorporated as a new town under the name of Old Saybrook.

1854- Old Saybrook incorporated as a separate town from Essex.

1855 - Old Lyme incorporated from Lyme.

1945 - Name of remaining lands (still claiming the original 1635 settlement date) changed from Saybrook to Deep River.

INFORMATION FROM: OLD SAYBROOK SOCIETY ARCHIVES