Connecticut River Museum

Last updated
Connecticut River Museum
CONNECTICUT RIVER MUSEUM, ESSEX, CT.jpg
Connecticut River Museum
Established1975
Location Essex, Connecticut, USA
Type Maritime museum
Website http://www.ctrivermuseum.org/
Steamboat Dock Site
LocationMain Street, Essex, Connecticut
Area0.8 acres (0.32 ha)
Built1813
Architectural styleGeorgian
NRHP reference No. 82003768 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 1, 1982

The Connecticut River Museum is a U.S. educational and cultural institution based at Steamboat Dock in Essex, Connecticut that focuses on the marine environment and maritime heritage of the Connecticut River Valley. [2]

Contents

The three-story Connecticut River Museum is located in a restored 1878 steamboat warehouse, [3] which is now the only one of its type remaining on the river, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [4] The museum opened to the public in 1975, with Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso as its first paid member and ex officio patron. The core of its collection came from the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, which provided the museum with a loan of nautical artwork, navigation equipment and maritime-related artifacts. [5]

Replica of the Turtle THE TURTLE, ESSEX CT.jpg
Replica of the Turtle

The museum's main and third levels offer changing exhibits, while its second level is home to a permanent exhibition on shipbuilding, which includes historical maps and models of steamboats and exhibits on the piscine species in the Connecticut River. [6]

The museum's collection also includes a full-scale replica of Turtle , the first American submarine, which was constructed in Essex in 1776 for use against the British in the American Revolution. [3] The museum property also includes a boathouse and a research library. In December 1995, the museum was given a triangular 1-acre (4,000 m2) waterfront property, valued at US$910,000, in the neighboring village of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, by Bill and Victoria Winterer, who were among the museums co-founders. The property is used as a waterfront park managed by the museum. [7] In 2011 the museum caught fire. They had to rebuild part of it.

See also

Related Research Articles

Essex, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,683 at the 2010 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton.

Saybrook Colony

The Saybrook Colony was an English colony established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop, the Younger, son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop the Younger was designated Governor by the original settlers, including Colonel George Fenwick and Captain Lion Gardiner. They claimed possession of the land via a deed of conveyance from Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick. The colony was named in honor of Lords Saye and Brooke, prominent Parliamentarians and holders of the colony's land grants.

Connecticut Route 9

Route 9 is a 40.89-mile (65.81 km), 4-lane freeway beginning in Old Saybrook and ending at I-84 near the Farmington-West Hartford town line. It connects the Eastern Coastline of the state along with the Lower Connecticut River Valley to Hartford and the Capital Region.

Enfield Falls Canal Canal in Connecticut, United States

Enfield Falls Canal is a canal that was built to circumvent the shallows at Enfield Falls on the Connecticut River, between Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. It is situated along the west side of the river, adjacent to the towns of Suffield and Windsor Locks in Hartford County in the state of Connecticut, United States. Windsor Locks is named after the series of locks on the canal.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum United States historic place

The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is located on 206-208 Hill Street, Hannibal, Missouri, on the west bank of the Mississippi River in the United States. It was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as author Mark Twain, from 1844 to 1853. Clemens found the inspiration for many of his stories, including the white picket fence, while living here. It has been open to the public as a museum since 1912, and was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 29, 1962. It is located in the Mark Twain Historic District.

Lyman Allyn Art Museum Art museum in Connecticut, United States

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum is located in New London, Connecticut and was founded in 1926 by Lyman Allyn's daughter Harriet Upson Allyn. Its collection includes European and non-Western art as well as American fine and decorative art, 17th-century European works on paper, 19th-century American paintings, and contemporary art. The museum also conducts educational programs.

Connecticut Route 154

Route 154 is a state highway in Connecticut running for 28.24 miles (45.45 km). It serves as one of the main thoroughfares in the town of Old Saybrook, intersecting twice with U.S. Route 1. North of I-95, Route 154 runs parallel to Route 9, along to the west bank of the Connecticut River. The route ends in Middletown at Route 9.

Hill–Stead Museum United States historic place

Hill–Stead Museum is a Colonial Revival house and art museum set on a large estate at 35 Mountain Road in Farmington, Connecticut. It is best known for its French Impressionist masterpieces, architecture, and stately grounds. The property was designated a National Historic Landmark as a nationally significant example of Colonial Revival architecture, built in 1901 to designs that were the result of a unique collaboration between Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the United States' first female architects, and the renowned firm of McKim, Mead & White. The house was built for Riddle's father, Alfred Atmore Pope, and the art collection it houses was collected by Pope and Riddle.

Chester–Hadlyme ferry

The Chester–Hadlyme ferry is a seasonal ferry crossing the Connecticut River between the town of Chester, Connecticut and the village of Hadlyme. It is the second oldest continuously operating ferry service in the state of Connecticut and is a designated state historical landmark. The ferry is part of the scenic portion of Route 148 and provides a convenient link between two of Connecticut's tourist attractions: Gillette Castle State Park in Hadlyme and the Essex Steam Train, which runs between Essex and Chester.

Valley Railroad (Connecticut)

The Valley Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Connecticut on tracks of the Connecticut Valley Railroad, which was founded in 1868. It operates the Essex Steam Train and the Essex Clipper Dinner Train.

Parker House (Old Saybrook, Connecticut) United States historic place

The Parker House is a historic house at 680 Middlesex Turnpike in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It is a roughly square 1-1/2 story wood frame structure with a gambrel roof, built in 1679 by Deacon William Parker. It is believed to be one of the oldest houses in the state, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge

The Amtrak Old Saybrook – Old Lyme Bridge is the last crossing of the Connecticut River before it reaches Long Island Sound. It is a Truss bridge with a bascule span, allowing boat traffic to go through. Its tracks are owned by Amtrak and used by Northeast Regional, Acela Express, Shore Line East trains traversing the Northeast Corridor. It can be seen from the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge, as well as from various points on Route 154.

New London Customhouse United States historic place

The New London Custom House is a historic custom house at 150 Bank Street in New London, Connecticut, built in 1833-35. It was designed by Robert Mills, one of the country's first formally trained architects. From 1839-40, the schooner La Amistad, on which captured Africans meant for the slave trade rebelled, was impounded at a wharf behind the customhouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture in 1970, and is now a local museum covering the city's maritime history.

Connecticut Valley Railroad Roundhouse and Turntable Site United States historic place

The Connecticut Valley Railroad Roundhouse and Turntable Site is a former railroad facility located in Fort Saybrook Monument Park off Main Street in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The roundhouse and turntable were built in 1871 by the Connecticut Valley Railroad, which was later acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The rail facilities are built partly on the archaeological remains of Fort Saybrook, the main fortification of the 17th-century Saybrook Colony, and are the only surviving remnant of what was once a large facility, with an icehouse, coal bin, steamboat dock, depot, and signal tower. Archaeological remains of these other facilities are believed to lie under other parts of the park and adjacent properties. The exposed facilities were excavated in 1981-2. Both structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 1994.

National Register of Historic Places listings in West Hartford, Connecticut

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Middletown Upper Houses Historic District United States historic place

The Middletown Upper Houses Historic District, also known as the Upper Houses River Port, encompasses the historic early nucleus of Cromwell, Connecticut. Sandwiched between Main Street and the Connecticut River, this area was set off from neighboring Middletown in 1851. It is visually dominated by residential structures built before 1810. The area grew as a significant river port and shipbuilding center until the mid-19th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

<i>Portland</i> (1947 tugboat)

Portland is a sternwheel steamboat built in 1947 for the Port of Portland, Oregon, in the United States.

The Preserve


The Preserve is a 963-acre open space preserve spanning the towns of Old Saybrook, Essex, and Westbrook, Connecticut. The property is owned by the State of Connecticut, Town of Old Saybrook, and the Essex Land Trust. It was protected in 2015 by The Trust for Public Land after an agreement to purchase the property from River Sound Development, LLC, was reached in 2013.

Westbrook Town Center Historic District United States historic place

The Westbrook Town Center Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Westbrook, Connecticut. Roughly linear in shape, the district extends along the Boston Post Road, with its focal center at the junction with Essex Road. The area has been a center of civic activity since the early 18th century, even though Westbrook was not incorporated until 1840, and has residential, commercial, civic, and religious architecture covering three centuries. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

<i>First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark</i> United States historic place

First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark is a marble monument with bas-relief and inscription by sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867–1941) at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was first unveiled in 1916 and was listed on state and federal registers of historic places in 1994.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. “Connecticut River Museum,” Frommer’s
  3. 1 2 “Southeastern Connecticut,” Baltimore Sun
  4. "NRHP nomination for Steamboat Dock Site". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  5. “Connecticut River Museum History,” Connecticut River Museum (About Us), 1999 Archived 2007-11-29 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  6. “A River Teeming With History And Wildlife,” Hartford Courant, August 19, 2004
  7. “Old Saybrook Property Donated to Essex Museum,” Hartford Courant, December 29, 1995

Coordinates: 41°21′06″N72°23′06″W / 41.3518°N 72.3851°W / 41.3518; -72.3851