It has a quieter claim to fame, too: Branford calls itself the birthplace of Yale. In 1701, a group of Connecticut ministers gathered at the Branford home of the Reverend Samuel Russell and gave their books ‘for the founding of a college.’ That collegiate school grew into Yale University, and a monument in town marks the spot. It is a small place that helped start a very large institution.
The islands carry the town's best story. By long local legend, the privateer Captain William Kidd hid gold among the Thimbles before his capture in 1701 — names like Money Island and Kidd's Cove still nod to the tale, though no treasure has ever turned up. Most of the islets are private homes now, their cottages perched on bare pink rock, and the best way to see them is from one of the tour boats that thread out of Stony Creek harbor on a summer afternoon.
Why People Visit Branford
Branford blends village greens with island-dotted coves. Visitors mix easy boat rides with libraries, beaches, and shoreline paths, all on Long Island Sound. It is peaceful, nautical, and neighborly, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. Colonial shoreline history and everyday Connecticut life sit side by side here in a welcoming way, from the Town Green to the granite docks at Stony Creek.
