Avery Point Lighthouse, Groton – Photograph by User:Pi.1415926535 on Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
The New London County town of Groton sits between the Thames and Mystic Rivers on the eastern end of the state’s shoreline. Europeans settled this Pequot land in 1650, and, in 1705, Groton separated from New London. The City of Groton, a distinct entity within the town of Groton, incorporated in 1903 and took its current name and governance in 1964. Throughout Groton’s history, maritime industry has fueled the community’s growth—from whale and seal hunting in the 1800s to the 1954 launch of the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. Key attractions include Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park (a Revolutionary War site) and the Submarine Force Library & Museum.
More on Groton from the CT Digital Archive
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Featured
Blood on the Hill: The Battle of Groton Heights, September 6, 1781
Public passions were stirred by reports of a “massacre” at Fort Griswold and its particulars remain a topic of debate to this day. …[more]
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Places
National Register of Historic Places. “Avery Point Lighthouse,” 2016. Link.
“Avery-Copp House,” 2016. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Bluff Point State Park,” 2016. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park,” 2016. Link.
“Groton Public Library - Local History Collection,” 2016. Link.
Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Haley Farm State Park,” 2012. Link.
Town of Groton. “Jabez Smith House,” 2016. Link.
“Mystic Museum of Art,” 2016. Link.
“Mystic River Historical Society,” 2016. Link.
“Noank Historical Society,” 2016. Link.
“Submarine Force Library & Museum,” 2016. Link.
“The Avery Memorial Association,” 2016. Link.
Documents
Bailey & Rathbone. “Bird’s-Eye View of the Robert Palmer & Son Ship Building and Marine Railway Company, Noank.” Bird’s-eye Map. Noank, CT: Bailey & Rathbone, ca 1904. Mystic Seaport. Link.
“Broadside: Notice. at a Meeting of the Board of Health of the Town of Groton, Held in Said Town on Saturday, the 21st Day of February, A.D. 1852.” Groton, Conn. Board of Health., 1852. Connecticut Historical Society. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Groton - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2016. Link.
“Groton Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Town of Groton. “Groton Public Library: Groton History Online,” 2016. Link.
The Indian & Colonial Research Center. “Groton, CT Tax List 1775,” 2016. Link.
“Map: South Part of New London Co. Connecticut - Page 188 and 189 of Town and City Atlas of the State of Connecticut.” Boston, MA: D. H. Hurd & Co., 1893. University of Connecticut Libraries - Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Bailey, O.H. “View of Mystic River & Mystic Bridge, Conn. 1879.” Bird’s-eye. Boston: Bailey & Hazen, 1879. University of Connecticut Libraries - Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Books
Greenhalgh, Kathleen. A History of West Mystic, 1600-1985. Groton, CT: Groton Public Library and Information Center, 1986.
Marshall, Benjamin Tinkham, ed. A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1922. Link.
McCain, Diana. Connecticut Coast: A Town-by-Town Illustrated History. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2009.
Kimball, Carol. Groton. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2004.
Kimball, Carol. Groton Revisited. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2007.
Burgess, Charles. Historic Groton: Comprising Historic and Descriptive Sketches Pertaining to Groton Heights, Center Groton, Poquonnoc Bridge, Noank, Mystic and Old Mystic, Connecticut. Moosup, CT: Charles F. Burgess, 1909. Link.
Kimball, Carol. Remembering Groton: Tales from East of the Thames. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2008.
The Story of the Twenty-First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, During the Civil War. 1861-1865. Middletown, CT: Stewart Printing Co., 1900. Link.
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