The Minute Man statue by Westport sculptor H. Daniel Webster was cast by Tiffany & Co. and unveiled June 17, 1910; it is one of only four known minuteman monuments in the United States.
Three old roads stitch the town together. The Boston Post Road — the colonial mail road, now US Route 1 — crosses the Saugatuck downtown, and mid-century travelers knew Westport by a roadside landmark on it: the Clam Box, a seafood stop whose sign and silhouette were pure New England. The Merritt Parkway sweeps through the backcountry under its famous 1930s bridges, no two alike, and the New Haven Line still carries commuters from the Westport and Saugatuck stations — the same ride to the city that turned onion fields into an arts colony and an arts colony into a suburb.
Why People Visit Westport Connecticut
- Spend a day at Compo Beach, the town's Sound-front park, and find the Minute Man statue on the bluff above the 1777 landing site — the 1901 commemorative cannons stand nearby.
- Walk the Saugatuck River waterfront and the historic Saugatuck village, the colonial shipping center the town grew from, and cross the 1884 Cribari swing bridge.
- Catch a show at the Westport Country Playhouse, founded in 1931 in a converted 1835 tannery, or a summer concert at the Levitt Pavilion.
- Browse downtown Main Street and the river walk, with shops and galleries near the water.
- Kayak to Cockenoe Island off Compo, or walk Longshore's shoreline paths and public golf course.
- Drive a stretch of the Merritt Parkway for its celebrated 1930s bridges — no two are alike.
- Read up at the Westport Library before exploring the town's deep arts-colony history.
