Old Lyme, Connecticut | |
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Town of Old Lyme | |
View of the Connecticut River in Old Lyme near its mouth at Long Island Sound | |
Coordinates: 41°19′N72°18′W / 41.317°N 72.300°W | |
Country | ![]() |
U.S. state | ![]() |
County | New London |
Region | Lower CT River Valley |
Incorporated | 1855 |
Government | |
• Type | Selectman-town meeting |
• First selectman | Timothy Griswold (R) |
• Selectman | Chris Kerr (R) |
• Selectwoman | Mary Jo Nosal (D) |
Area | |
• Total | 28.8 sq mi (74.6 km2) |
• Land | 23.1 sq mi (59.8 km2) |
• Water | 5.7 sq mi (14.8 km2) |
Elevation | 20 ft (6 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 7,628 |
• Density | 260/sq mi (100/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern) |
ZIP code | 06371 |
Area code(s) | 860/959 |
FIPS code | 09-57040 |
GNIS feature ID | 0213483 |
Website | www |
Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, bounded on the west by the Connecticut River, on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the east by the town of East Lyme, and on the north by the town of Lyme. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region.
The main street of the town, Lyme Street, is a historic district with several homes once owned by sea captains. The town has had for many years a thriving art community. Its principal institutions include the Florence Griswold Museum, the Lyme Art Association, and the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. Several seasonal beach communities are in Old Lyme, such as Point O' Woods, Hawk's Nest, and Miami Beach. The town is named after Lyme Regis, England.
The town of Old Lyme contains several villages, including Black Hall, Laysville, Soundview, and South Lyme. The total population of the town was 7,628 at the 2020 census. [1]
Old Lyme is a community of about 7,600 permanent residents, in addition to several thousand seasonal vacationers who occupy a seaside community of summer residences. It is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River at its confluence with Long Island Sound, across the river from Old Saybrook on the west bank. Numerous examples of Colonial and Federal architecture can be found throughout the town.
The town of Lyme was set off from Saybrook (now known as Deep River), which is on the west bank of the Connecticut River mouth, on February 13, 1665. South Lyme was incorporated from Lyme in 1855, then renamed Old Lyme in 1857, because it contains the oldest-settled portion of the Lymes. [2] Old Lyme occupies about 27 square miles (70 km2) of shoreline, tidal marsh, inland wetlands, and forested hills. Its neighbor to the north is the town of Lyme, and to the east is East Lyme. Other place names from the same root are Hadlyme, a neighborhood in the town of Lyme and the town of East Haddam, and South Lyme, a beach resort area of Old Lyme. The place name "Lyme" is derived from Lyme Regis, a small port on the coast of Dorset, England from which some of the early settlers immigrated in the 17th century. [3] The picturesque Old Lyme Cemetery contains the graves of the settlers. The Duck River flows through the cemetery and into the Connecticut River at Watch Rock Park.
Lyme disease was named after the town. It was discovered in 1975 after a mysterious outbreak of what appeared to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in children who lived in Lyme and Old Lyme.
The Florence Griswold House in Old Lyme housed an art colony for many years in the early 20th century to many prominent American Impressionist painters. The Lyme Art Colony included Childe Hassam, Edward Charles Volkert, Willard Metcalf, Wilson Irvine, and Henry Ward Ranger, among many others. These artists made Old Lyme a thriving art community, which still continues today.
The Griswold House was transformed into an art museum, the Florence Griswold Museum, or affectionately called "Flo Gris", by residents of Old Lyme. Many American Impressionist paintings of the era are of subjects in and around the Griswold House and are featured in the museum, along with many other works and personal possessions of the artists who frequented there. The building of the Old Lyme Congregational Church is known for the many paintings that have been made of it, most notably by Childe Hassam.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 28.8 square miles (75 km2), of which 5.7 square miles (15 km2), or 19.85%, is water. The southern section of Old Lyme has a mostly flat topography, intersected with tidal marsh and swamp, while the northern sections of the town have a rocky and hilly terrain. Old Lyme lies in the Köppen climate classification zone Cfa, or mild temperate climate. The summers have highs in the 80s °F (and 90's F on occasion) and the winters have highs in the upper 30s to low 40s °F. The average annual precipitation is about 40 inches (100 cm), and about 28 inches of snow falls on average each winter. Snowcover is normally brief.
Other minor communities and geographic features in the town are Between the Rivers, Black Hall Pond, Brighton Beach, Ferry Road, Flat Rock Hill, Four Mile River, Griswold Point, Hall's Corners, Hawk's Nest Beach, Homestead Circle, Johnnycake Hill, Miami Beach, Mile Creek, Neck Road, Old Colony Beach, Old Lyme Estates, Old Lyme Shores, Rogers Lake, Sill Lane, Smith's Neck, Tantummaheag, Tuttles Sandy Beach, Whippoorwill, and White Sand Beach.
Rogers Lake, located in the towns of Old Lyme and Lyme, is formed by a dam along Town Woods Road in Old Lyme. The lake's surface area is 265 acres (1.07 km2). Mill Brook, Grassy Hill Brook and Broad Swamp Brook feed into the lake. The lake's watershed is 4,833 acres (19.56 km2) of woodland. The outlet below the dam is Mill Brook, which is a tributary of the Lieutenant River, a tributary of the Connecticut River.
Five small islands are on Rogers Lake, the largest of which has a small cottage built on it. Rogers Lake is stocked every year with brook and rainbow trout. A street that runs along the north side of Rogers Lake is called Blood Street; it has lent its name to the town's rowing team, the Blood Street Sculls. Rogers Lake is also bordered by Grassy Hill Road and Town Woods Road, with a small lakeside neighborhood off of Rogers Lake Trail.
Roger is the name given to a reputed lake monster living in Rogers Lake, a natural freshwater lake located in Old Lyme Connecticut. Like the Loch Ness Monster and Lake Champlain’s famed Champ, many locals regard Roger as pure myth while some believe in his existence, possibly being a relative of the plesiosaur, an extinct group of aquatic reptiles. While there is no scientific evidence for the cryptid's existence, there have been over 200 reported sightings. The legend of the monster is considered a draw for tourism in the Old Lyme and Lyme areas.
Connecticut Native American tribes referred to the creature as "Caca-togo".
Based on a report by the Connecticut Association of Cryptozoology (CAC), famed local artist Florence Griswold reported the very first documented sighting of Roger in 1878. According to their report, Ms. Griswold was setting up a canvas on the northeast side of the shore when she witnessed a large long-necked grey-skinned dinosaur-like creature emerge 20 feet above the surface and quickly submerge. She recounted to her family that she did not sense Roger as a threat but was merely intrigued by the beastie. For years after the incident, Florence Griswold painted Roger into several backgrounds in some of her paintings. Humored by her work, Lyme Art Academy Professor Herbert A. Strekel said, “If Picasso had his red period and Monet had his blue period, then that would have been Griswold’s Lake Monster period.”
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1860 | 1,304 | — | |
1870 | 1,362 | 4.4% | |
1880 | 1,387 | 1.8% | |
1890 | 1,319 | −4.9% | |
1900 | 1,180 | −10.5% | |
1910 | 1,181 | 0.1% | |
1920 | 946 | −19.9% | |
1930 | 1,313 | 38.8% | |
1940 | 1,702 | 29.6% | |
1950 | 2,141 | 25.8% | |
1960 | 3,068 | 43.3% | |
1970 | 4,964 | 61.8% | |
1980 | 6,159 | 24.1% | |
1990 | 6,535 | 6.1% | |
2000 | 7,406 | 13.3% | |
2010 | 7,603 | 2.7% | |
2020 | 7,628 | 0.3% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [4] |
As of the census [5] of 2010, 7,603 people, 2,958 households, and 2,153 families resided in the town. The population density was 320.6 inhabitants per square mile (123.8/km2). The 4,570 housing units had an average density of 197.8/sq mi (76.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.37% White, 0.26% African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 0.95% of the population.
Of the 2,958 households, 30.2% had children under 18 living with them, 63.2% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were not families. About 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.50, and the average family size was 2.93.
In the town, the age distribution was 24.0% under 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $68,386, and for a family was $75,779. Males had a median income of $52,110 versus $39,158 for females. The per capita income for the town was $41,386. About 2.2% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.9% of those under age 18 and 1.8% of those age 65 or over.
Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005 [6] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Active voters | Inactive voters | Total voters | Percentage | |
Republican | 1,931 | 66 | 1,997 | 32.76% | |
Democratic | 1,384 | 38 | 1,422 | 23.33% | |
Unaffiliated | 2,546 | 119 | 2,665 | 43.73% | |
Minor Parties | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0.16% | |
Total | 5,871 | 223 | 6094 | 100% |
From the towns of Old Lyme and Lyme, 1,450 children were enrolled in the five schools of Regional District 18 at the start of the 2011–2012 academic year. The students are enrolled based on age and location. Lyme Consolidated School is for prekindergarten through grade 5, Mile Creek School is for kindergarten through grade 5, Center School is for prekindergarten, Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School is for grades 6 through 8, and Lyme-Old Lyme High School is for grades 9 through 12. Regional School District 18 has a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and spent $17,454 per pupil in the 2007–2008 school year. The district's girls' soccer and boys' basketball teams won the Shoreline Conference Championship during the 2010–2011 school year.
Old Lyme also has a number of students who attend private schools, including nearby parochial schools such as Xavier High School, Mercy High School, and Saint Bernard School, and some students go to college preparatory schools such as the Williams School in New London.
Founded in 1976 by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler as a figurative art academy for the teaching of sculpture, drawing, illustration, and painting, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts offers a bachelor of fine arts degree in the disciplines of painting and sculpture. The college also offers postbaccalaureate and three-year certificate programs. It is known for its focus on teaching techniques and the history and tradition of representational art, centered on the study of nature and the figure. According to The New York Times, "many in the art world believe [Lyme Academy] has contributed to a renaissance of representational art." [7]
The Estuary Transit District provides public transportation throughout Old Lyme and the surrounding towns through its 9 Town transit service. Services include connections to the Old Saybrook Train Station, served by Amtrak and Shore Line East railroads, as well as the New London Transportation Center, served by train and ferry service.
Old Lyme has sought to block attempts to update rail infrastructure in the Northeast, such as building high-speed rail. [8]
Deep River is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 4,415 at the 2020 census. The town center is designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). Deep River is part of what the locals call the "Tri-town Area", made up of the towns of Deep River, Chester, and Essex.
Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, and the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybrook Manor.
Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 census. Lyme is the eponym of Lyme disease.
American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors with a wide array of subject matters but focusing on landscapes and upper-class domestic life.
Florence Ann Griswold was a resident of Old Lyme, Connecticut, United States who became the nucleus of the "Old Lyme Art Colony" in the early 20th century. Her home has since been made into the Florence Griswold Museum, a National Historic Landmark.
Frederick Childe Hassam was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionism to American collectors, dealers, and museums. He produced over 3,000 paintings, oils, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs over the course of his career, and was an influential American artist of the early 20th century.
Henry Ward Ranger was an American artist. Born in western New York State, he was a prominent landscape and marine painter, an important Tonalist, and the leader of the Old Lyme Art Colony. Ranger became a National Academician (1906), and a member of the American Water Color Society. Among his paintings are, Top of the Hill, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and East River Idyll, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Florence Griswold Museum is an Art Museum at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, Connecticut centered on the home of Florence Griswold (1850–1937), which was the center of the Old Lyme Art Colony, a main nexus of American Impressionism. The Museum is noted for its collection of American Impressionist paintings. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. The site encompasses 12-acres of historic buildings, grounds, gardens, and walking trails.
The Old Lyme Congregational Church is located in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The church is noted as a favorite subject of Old Lyme Art Colony painters. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
The Lieutenant River is a 3.7-mile-long (6.0 km) tidal river located in Old Lyme, Connecticut. It joins the Connecticut River in the estuary, just above the point where that river flows into Long Island Sound.
Roger Wilson Dennis (1902–1996) was an American artist whose art was informed by the American Impressionism practiced by the Lyme Art Colony and the art of the French Impressionists. A prolific painter, he concentrated mainly on natural scenes. Dennis was born in Norwich, Connecticut. He was head of the Conservation Department at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum at Connecticut College. His work is held in the collection of the Florence Griswold Museum.
Clark Greenwood Voorhees was an American Impressionist and Tonalist landscape painter and one of the founders of the Old Lyme Art Colony.
May Night is a 1906 oil painting by American Impressionist Willard Metcalf. It is a nocturne depicting the home of Florence Griswold, now the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. It was the first contemporary painting purchased by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and is Metcalf's "most celebrated work."
The Old Lyme art colony of Old Lyme, Connecticut was established in 1899 by American painter Henry Ward Ranger, and was in its time the most famous art colony in the United States, and the first to adopt Impressionism.
Allen Butler Talcott was an American landscape painter. After studying art in Paris for three years at Académie Julian, he returned to the United States, becoming one of the first members of the Old Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. His paintings, usually landscapes depicting the local scenery and often executed en plein air, were generally Barbizon and Tonalist, sometimes incorporating elements of Impressionism. He was especially known and respected for his paintings of trees. After eight summers at Old Lyme, he died there at the age of 41.
Lyme Art Association (LAA) is a nonprofit art organization established in 1914, with roots going back to 1902. The LAA maintains a historic art gallery located at 90 Lyme Street in the Old Lyme Historic District, Old Lyme, Connecticut. The gallery was built in 1921 to a design prepared by the architect and artist Charles A. Platt. The association holds exhibitions throughout the year, featuring the work of member artists as well as visiting ones, with an emphasis on representational art The building has a north-light studio, where the association conducts classes year-round.
Harry Leslie Hoffman (1871–1964) was an American Impressionist painter best known for his brightly colored paintings of underwater marine life.
Katherine Langhorne Adams (1885–1977) was an American painter and printmaker. Other sources give her birthdate as c. 1882 or 1890.
The Old Lyme Historic District encompasses the historic village center of Old Lyme, Connecticut. Located mainly on Lyme Street south of Interstate 95, the village, settled in the mid-17th century, has an architectural history dating to the early 18th century, flourishing as a shipbuilding center and home to many ship captains. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Edward Francis Rook was an American Impressionist landscape and marine painter, and a member of the art colony at Old Lyme, Connecticut.