Niantic Bay Boardwalk

Several weeks ago, I had an adventure in the Lyme / Mystic area of Connecticut. In the village of Niantic in East Lyme, CT is Niantic Bay Boardwalk stretching 6000 feet from Niantic Bay Beach to Hole-in-the-Wall Beach. Fun yellow seashell location markers installed by Eagle Scout Joshua Miller of Troop 240 indicate how far a walker has traveled along the boardwalk and provide information for emergency services should something go amiss. Besides this excellent signage, the boardwalk boasts plenty of informational signs about the history and ecology of the area. As an added bonus, trains regularly run down the railroad tracks beside the boardwalk and cross the drawbridge on the Niantic Bay Beach end of the path.

The Niantic River had been a challenge to cross since people settled in the area several thousand years ago, but the first known Niantic River Bridge was built in 1796 to replace a rope ferry, a pulley system that had brought passengers and goods across the river. The railroad bridge came later with the construction of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. That railroad company lasted from 1872 to 1968, when it merged into Penn Central Transportation Company, which closed in 1976. Today, the current rail line is owned by Amtrak, while many of the former rail lines have been transformed into rail trails for walkers and bikers.

Across the railroad tracks and the street from the boardwalk was the Morton House, an Empire style hotel for visitors to Niantic built in 1868 during the height of Niantic’s popularity as a vacation destination. The building contained thirty-eight guest rooms plus a restaurant. The current state of the Morton House was unclear at the time of my visit. Although appearing in decent condition, I could find no confirmed information as to whether it was still a hotel, was turned into condos, or had another purpose.

One cannot read a collection of informational signage in New England without coming across the glaciers, and Niantic Bay Boardwalk did not disappoint. One sign gave a great review of the Wisconsinan Glacier, which covered the land from 17,000 to 15,000 years ago. The next sign presented maps of the Long Island Sound Coastal Watershed, which covers over 11,200 square miles and abuts the Blackstone River Watershed to the east in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts. Two animals received their own signs. Ospreys or seahawks have recovered after population decline due to the use of the pesticide DDT in the 1950s and 1960s until a national ban in 1972. Despite ongoing habitat loss the population has recovered. The same cannot be said of the Niantic Bay Scallop, whose harvest was a major source of income for East Lyme residents during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Since then, the population declined due to water traffic and pollution.

Another sign gave an obligatory mention of the Hurricane of 1938, which caused mass destruction along the New England coast on September 21, 1938 and received the nickname “Long Island Express”. As always, here is the list of damage and near misses as previously appeared on the blog:

• Trees at Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, NH
• Saltwater swimming pool at Rocky Point in Warwick, RI
• Whale Rock Lighthouse near Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, RI
• Part of New Bedford, prompting the Army Corps of Engineers to build New Bedford Hurricane Protection Barrier.
• 1750s Barn in Rehoboth, MA; later reproduced by the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society
• Storm survivor Charles W. Morgan, a whaling ship now at Mystic Seaport Museum

Some signs highlighted points of industry or relaxation. The stone quarry at Millstone Point in Waterford, CT reached its height in 1847 wih 30,000 tons of granite exported per year. The stone is found in the base for the Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Terminal in New York City, and the Customs House in New London, CT. The area became a power station in 1951, with quarrying ending in 1963. Today, the area houses Millstone Power Station by Dominion Energy, which makes half the electricity in Connecticut, or fifteen percent for all of New England. On a more solum note, this area was once occupied by Nehantics, a Native American tribe that had already been displaced by Pequots before the arrival of Dutch and English colonists. By 1870, all known members of this tribe had died due to disease, war, and territory loss; however, descendents with no knowledge of their ancestry may live among the general population.

Niantic’s reputation as a recreational destination began during the 1800s, when the McCook family of Hartford, CT bought sixteen acres on Champlin Point. Fifteen men in the family had fought during the American Civil War and now needed a place to relax. For several generations, the family invited neighbors to their summer retreat renamed to McCook Point. When the family could no longer maintain the property, they sold the land to East Lyme in 1953. The town tore down the buildings and turned the area into a public park and beach. Nearby Hole-in-the-Wall Beach received its name from an underpass built to prevent dangerous railroad crossing by kids trying to reach the water.