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Southport Connecticut Classic Cotton Cap - Black Logo

Southport Connecticut Classic Cotton Cap - Black Logo

Regular price $32.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $32.00 USD
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The Southport cap, for the town that rebuilt its harbor after 1779 and shipped onions to the world. An unstructured cotton dad cap with the Southport vintage retro logo embroidered on the front in black thread.

The cap is the easiest Southport piece to wear every day and the easiest to give: one size, breathable cotton, a curved visor and an antique-brass buckle. It softens with wear and stays on the hook by the door. Order one for the beach bag and one for the glovebox.

Low-profile and unstructured, this 6-panel embroidered dad cap has a Permacurv visor, a self-fabric hideaway strap with antique-brass buckle, a matching undervisor, and four-row visor stitching for durability. Breathable 100% cotton in every color except the camo variation, which is 65% polyester / 35% cotton. The classic embroidered finish is durable and vintage-inspired. Embroidery is thread, not ink, so slight differences from the digital product image are normal; full details are explained in our Embroidery footer.

Settled in 1639 as Mill River within Fairfield, with a grist mill by 1662 and a wharf by 1769, the village was burned by British and Hessian troops in July 1779; only the c.1766 Meeker House survived. The merchants rebuilt it house by house in the Federal and Greek Revival styles and incorporated it as the Borough of Southport in 1831.

By the 1890s Southport Harbor was shipping about a hundred thousand barrels a year of the Southport Globe onion to New York and the southern ports. The captains’ houses still line Harbor Road and Pequot Avenue, the 1894 Pequot Library stands in Richardsonian stone, and the harbor is one of the prettiest on the Sound. That village is the mark on this piece.


QUICK FACTS — SOUTHPORT CT EMBROIDERED COTTON CAP

Town: Southport, Connecticut

Founded: Settled 1639 as Mill River; Borough of Southport 1831

Known for: The onion port; a 19th-century harbor village rebuilt after the burning of 1779; the Pequot Library

Art: Southport vintage retro logo, black (printed)

Blank: Unstructured 6-panel low-profile dad cap, Permacurv visor

Fabric: 100% cotton (camo variation 65% polyester / 35% cotton)

Decoration: Front embroidery, black thread; four-row visor stitching, matching undervisor

Closure: Self-fabric hideaway strap, antique-brass buckle

Made to order in the USA


Made to order and shipped free in the U.S. More Southport pieces, and the rest of Connecticut, are one button away.



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Product FAQs

How does your sizing work?

Every item is made to order, so please check the size chart on this page before you buy. Women's fitted tees run small; size up for a looser fit. Caps are one size with an adjustable strap.

How are items made and when will they arrive?

We make each item to order using premium blanks, embroidery and soft-hand prints. Production takes 2-5 business days (weekends and holidays excluded), then 4-10 days in transit via USPS, UPS or FedEx to U.S. addresses; most orders arrive within 6-15 business days. You'll get a tracking link the moment it ships. Any current shipping offer is shown in the bar at the top of every page and applies automatically at checkout, no code needed.

How do I send a gift?

Enter the recipient's address as the shipping address and your own as the billing address at checkout. Nothing ships with a price; the package includes a plain packing slip. Tracking goes to your email, not theirs. For birthdays and holidays, order two weeks ahead to be safe.

What's the return policy?

Made-to-order items can't be returned or exchanged for size or color, so please use the size chart and photos before ordering. If anything arrives defective, misprinted or damaged, send a photo and your order number within 30 days and we'll replace it or refund you.

How do I care for my item?

Apparel: wash cold, inside out, with like colors; no bleach; tumble dry low or hang dry. Embroidered pieces: iron inside out to protect the stitching. Caps: spot clean. Printed glasses and water bottles: hand wash only, no dishwasher, so the artwork lasts. Mugs and engraved glasses are dishwasher safe. Any item-specific care notes are in the description above.

Who makes this?

Merlin Classics is a small Connecticut brand making original retro designs for the towns people love. Every piece is printed, embroidered or engraved to order in the USA, and the business supports hunger relief in the communities our collections celebrate.

Our Southport logo carries an oyster over "Connecticut · Est. 1636" — the shared shoreline emblem of every Merlin Classics Connecticut town, marking the founding of the Connecticut Colony. Printed black-and-white with the worn look of an old oyster-crate label or shoreline signage, the oyster reads as the Connecticut shore in shorthand: the Sound, the harbors, the shellfish beds. It suits Southport especially well — this was a working harbor that shipped oysters right alongside its famous onions.

Long before it had an English name, the shore here was Sasqua — an Indigenous village of Quiripi-speaking people, part of the Paugussett and Pequot world of the Connecticut coast. In 1639 it became the western edge of the new town of Fairfield, known simply as "Mill River" for the grist mill turning on its banks by 1662. A wharf went in by 1769, and the little river mouth on Long Island Sound began its long life as a working harbor.

Why People Visit Southport Connecticut

  • Walk the Southport Historic District along Harbor Road and Pequot Avenue, lined with post-1779 Greek Revival and Federal captain's houses.
  • Visit the Pequot Library (1894), a stone Richardsonian-Romanesque landmark with reading rooms and cultural programming.
  • Look out over Southport Harbor at the mouth of the Mill River, with sailboats and the Pequot Yacht Club.
  • Relax at Southport Beach, a small cove looking toward the harbor mouth on Long Island Sound.
  • Find the Meeker House (about 1766), the lone survivor of the 1779 burning.

Southport Connecticut Merlin Classics retro vintage logo featuring an oyster over Connecticut Est. 1636