The town itself is older than its famous invention. Algonquian peoples lived along this shore long before European settlement; around 1648 the area was settled as the "Oyster River Quarter" of the Saybrook Colony — the seed colony from which a cluster of Connecticut towns grew. The West Parish formed its own church in 1724, the place was renamed Westbrook in 1810, and in 1840 it was incorporated as a separate town. The "Oyster River" name says it plainly: this has always been a shoreline town.
Westbrook holds two stories at once: a working shoreline town on the salt marshes of Long Island Sound, and the unlikely birthplace of an invention that changed the sea. Our Westbrook designs gather that identity — the oyster-and-1636 emblem, the Sound shoreline, and the Turtle's quiet claim to history — into wearable form. Westbrook, Connecticut — birthplace of the world's first submarine, on the salt marshes of Long Island Sound since 1648.
Why People Visit Westbrook
Westbrook offers quiet shoreline New England with a remarkable story beneath it. Visitors come for the beaches, the marsh and harbor, the historic town center, and the distinction of standing in the birthplace of the submarine. It's low-key, scenic, and steeped in Long Island Sound maritime heritage.
