Singing Bridge, U.S. Route 1, over Patchogue River, Westbrook
– Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Westbrook, in Middlesex County, is located in southern Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. Originally part of Saybrook Colony, it was known as Pochaug until 1810 and incorporated as a town in 1840. Timber from local white oak and chestnut forests sustained a shipbuilding industry that flourished for nearly a century. The most famous vessel associated with the town of Westbrook is the Turtle, the world’s first submarine, invented by Westbrook-native David Bushnell. By the 1870s, the area had become a popular summer resort town—a characteristic it still retains today.
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David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine
How a farmer’s son became the Father of Submarine Warfare during the American Revolution. …[more]
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Places
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Stewart B. McKinney: National Wildlife Refuge,” 2016. Link.
“Westbrook Historical Society,” 2014. Link.
Documents
“Map - Town of Westbrook. (Petersen Collection).” Westbrook, CT, ca. 1850s. University of Connecticut Libraries - Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Connecticut State Library Digital Collections. “Westbrook - WPA Architectural Survey,” 2013. Link.
“Westbrook Collection.” Connecticut Digital Archive, n.d. Link.
Books
McCain, Diana. Connecticut Coast: A Town-by-Town Illustrated History. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2009.
Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Middlesex, Connecticut: From Actual Surveys. New York, NY: F.W. Beers & Company, 1874. Link.
Beers, J.B., & Company, and Henry Whittemore. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut, with Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men. New York, NY: J.B. Beers & Company, 1884. Link.
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