Today Westbrook is a quiet Long Island Sound town of about seven thousand — salt marshes and a common river mouth, masts in the harbor at Pilots Point, the town green on the old Boston Post Road, and the Town Center Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, that records three centuries of shoreline New England. Greek Revival and colonial homes along the old road still carry the markers of the "Descendants of Westbrook Settlers," and out in the marsh the cedar rise of Hawk's Nest keeps the shoreline's older geography in view. It is a town that wears its history lightly — and has more of it than almost anyone passing through would guess.
The Turtle's one combat mission is a story of its own. Bushnell's brother Ezra trained for months as its pilot, then fell ill on the eve of the operation; Sergeant Ezra Lee of Old Lyme took the crank instead. Built and tested in secrecy on the Connecticut River, the Turtle was carried overland and by water to the war. On a September night in 1776, Lee steered the little craft beneath New York Harbor toward HMS Eagle, the British flagship, in history's first submarine attack. The mine never attached — but the concept was proven, and the age of undersea warfare had quietly begun. Benjamin Franklin was among those who took note of Bushnell's trials, and George Washington later judged the work "an effort of genius."
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.
