Katharine Hepburn lived at the borough of Fenwick for most of her life and died there in 2003; the restored Main Street theater that bears her name opened in 2009.
Saybrook Colony, founded 1635 when Lion Gardiner built Saybrook Fort at the Connecticut River's mouth, is the oldest officially-chartered settlement in Connecticut — a year older than Hartford.
Why People Visit Old Saybrook Connecticut
- Relax at Harveys Beach, shallow waters and soft sand for easy family time on Long Island Sound.
- Walk Fort Saybrook Monument Park, interpretive signs marking the 1635 fort site near the marsh and the river mouth.
- Tour the General William Hart House (1767), a Federal-era home with period rooms and gardens reflecting eighteenth-century town life.
- Stroll Saybrook Point, boardwalks and marinas with views to Lynde Point Lighthouse (1803) at the river mouth.
- Visit the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center on Main Street, an intimate restored theater hosting year-round performances.
- Drive across the causeway to Fenwick borough, a quiet shoreline community of shingled houses on the peninsula between South Cove and the Sound.
