More From Westbrook Connecticut
-
Westbrook Connecticut Vintage Retro Cotton Canvas Tote Bag - Black Logo
Regular price $28.00 USDRegular priceSale price $28.00 USD -
Westbrook Connecticut Vintage Retro Thank You Card Set - Black Logo
Regular price From $25.00 USDRegular priceSale price From $25.00 USD -
Westbrook Connecticut Vintage Retro Cotton Jersey Baby Bodysuit - Black Logo
Regular price $26.00 USDRegular priceSale price $26.00 USD -
Westbrook Connecticut Vintage Retro Unisex Cotton Jersey Tank Top - Black Logo
Regular price $28.00 USDRegular priceSale price $28.00 USD
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.
For a century Westbrook lived by the water — shipyards built from the white oak and chestnut of the local forests, oyster beds in the tidal rivers, and a menhaden fish-oil works out on Salt Island off Middle Beach. The Pochaug and Patchogue rivers share a single mouth here, spreading into broad salt marshes, with Duck Island and its breakwater offshore. By the 1870s the same shoreline had become a summer resort, its cottages filling each season with visitors drawn to the Sound.
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.
