The Elm City carried its history out loud. The Green and its three churches still mark the center square of Brockett's 1638 plan; the ridges of East and West Rock still rise over the rooftops; and the 1847 Five Mile Point Light still stands at the harbor mouth in Lighthouse Point Park, with its old carousel and its migrating birds. Somewhere along the way the city perfected the coal-fired, charred-crust pizza it calls apizza, argued over more passionately here than almost anywhere. Through four centuries, New Haven kept its colonial bones and its salt-water edge.
New Haven's stories run with the harbor and the ridges. They'll tell you the elms once arched right over the streets, which is how the Elm City got its name. They'll tell you about the Great Shippe that sailed for England in 1646 and was never seen again — except, the legend says, as a phantom ship in the clouds over the harbor. They'll point up at West Rock and the regicides' cave, and down at the brownstone lighthouse on the Sound, and then they'll argue, at length, about whose apizza is best.
Why People Visit New Haven Connecticut
- Walk the New Haven Green, the 1638 central common of the nine-square plan, framed by its three historic churches.
- Hike West Rock to Judges' Cave, the regicides' hideout, along the Regicides Trail.
- Climb East Rock Park for the classic view over the city and the harbor.
- Visit Lighthouse Point Park for the 1847 Five Mile Point Light, the historic carousel, and Atlantic-flyway birding.
- Stroll Wooster Square for spring cherry blossoms and brownstones.
- See the free downtown museums — the Yale University Art Gallery and the Peabody Museum.
- Try a New Haven-style apizza, the city's signature charred, coal-fired pizza.
