Chester - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

Chester – Hadlyme Ferry – Jerry Dougherty

Chester, in Middlesex County, is located in the lower Connecticut River Valley in southeastern Connecticut. Large portions of Cockaponset State Forest cover its northern and western boundaries. The Wangunks, a river tribe of Native Americans, occupied the land called Pattaconk prior to English settlement of the area in 1692. The town was formed from the northern quarter of Saybrook and incorporated in 1836. Back in 1769, Jonathan Warner was granted permission to operate a ferry across the Connecticut River that became the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, the second-oldest continuously operating ferry service in Connecticut. Its location is currently a state historical landmark.