Rich history
varied attractions
celebrated in East Haven
By Mike Danahey
East Haven holds more than its fair share of things to do and see for locals and tourists. Here are three points of interest, two that are on the National Registry of Historic Places and one is a trail to enjoy the scenery and attractions East Haven has to offer.
Old Stone Church
This year, 2024, will be a special year for the First Congregational Church of East Haven, as it will be celebrating 250 years of the church building.
The “spiritual home” of the congregation dates to 1711. Historian Peggy Thomas said the first minister of the church was East Haven native, Jacob Heminway, who is famous as the first student at what would later become Yale University. Heminway was ordained in 1711 and served for 50 years as minister of what was then called The First Ecclesiastical Society of East Haven. Old Stone Church is on the National Register of Historic Places, and because of that, it attracts interest from many people.
For scheduled visits congregation members dress up in colonial costumes and take guests through the sanctuary, the original church structure. The hosts talk about how the building was built, who built it, what the original building looked like, what changes were made and how they were made.
“Most people like to go up in the bell tower and ring the bell,”
Peggy Thomas said. “When the bell was cast, there were 16 silver dollars thrown into the molten metal to give it a silvery ring. It does have it.”
The church has an exemplary organ. Minister of Music Jonathan Budd, PhD can make its 1,003 pipes dance at services.
Thomas noted that congregational churches are not ornate at all, and people who are used to churches with stained glass windows are usually surprised to see how plain it is. Most guests enjoy the narthex (the entrance to the sanctuary on High Street) that holds paintings and photos of the past and present ministers.
“Whenever we have a large tour, there are always quite a few people who like to talk about their connection to the church and they tell us about family, friends and ancestors who went to church here,” Thomas said.
The building is so old many people ask about ghosts. While she has not spotted any spirits herself, Thomas said some congregation members swear they have seen apparitions.
The Shore Line Trolley Museum
One interesting fact about The Shore Line Trolley Museum, Executive Director John Proto said, is that its trolley line is on the National Registry of Historic Places for being the oldest continuously operated suburban trolley line in the United States, dating back to 1900.
The museum holds a collection of more than 100 vehicles, including trolley, subway and elevated cars and a small fleet of buses. Working equipment comes from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and from Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa in Canada.
Proto said the fleet includes:
• August Belmont’s private subway car
• The oldest known horse drawn streetcar, from Central Park, which predates the Civil War
• The only remaining trolley parlor car, circa 1905
• A trolley car that ran across the Brooklyn Bridge on its
regular route
• The oldest operating electric streetcar in existence, circa 1895
• One of the two remaining subway cars that survived the World Trade Center collapse on Sept 11, 2001.
“We have an R17 style subway car that’s made appearances in The Joker, The Amazing Spiderman II and Russian Doll, and another car that will be in Frances Ford Coppola’s upcoming film, Megalopolis,” Proto said.
After 27 years, this summer the museum will be getting back an open air car that had been on loan to Lake Compounce Amusement & Water Park.
The Farm River Estuary abuts a large portion of the museum’s 1.5 mile trolley line and provides spectacular views of wildlife, pollinator habitats and tidal flow.
Proto said the museum also has a large operating trolley layout, complete with overhead wire. It is part of an exhibit that explains the history of New Haven’s street rail system, from the early horse drawn cars in 1860 to the end of trolley service and introduction of buses in 1948.
The museum hosts a large variety of special events throughout the year, with regular public trolley rides and tours offered in July and August. The summer season kicks off with Museum In Motion featuring a large selection of the operating collection in two parades.
The museum will also host a summer reading program, funded this year by CT Humanities; summer concerts and bluegrass jams; discussions on sea level rise, raptors and pollinators; sensory friendly days; an autumn pumpkin patch; visits with Santa, and Give Back Wednesdays where nonprofits use the grounds and trolleys for their own fundraisers.
Shoreline Greenway Trail
Shoreline Greenway Trail, or SGT, organized in 2002, incorporated in December of that year and received 501(c)(3) designation as a nonprofit in 2003. It is a collaborative effort between the towns of East Haven, Branford, Guilford and Madison to establish a 25-mile trail to build bike, pedestrian and wheelchair friendly connections, greenway trails, bike lanes and other facilities to take you where you want to go.
For exercise or commuting and to create a more connected, economically vibrant and living shoreline. In addition, trails drive tourism, make communities a more desirable place to live, visit and boost spending at local businesses.
For people looking to connect to nature, to enjoy spectacular views of Farm River, Long Island Sound, marshes, glacial rocks to bird watch or to connect to the shoreline, East Haven offers the Shoreline Greenway Trail.
In 2002, Barbara Brow organized and now serves as chairwoman of the East Haven town team of Shoreline Greenway Trail. Barbara reports that the East Haven Shoreline Greenway Trail proposed route is approximately three miles, and nearly two miles are complete.
The first trail segment, opened in 2005, is on wooded, picturesque town property off Elliot Street (the former site of D.C. Moore School) and connects by means of town road Pevetty Drive to Shoreline Greenway Trail, in the scenic, natural setting of Farm River State Park, completed in 2015.
DEEP Recreational Trail Grants funds were utilized to build both trails. The newest trail extends from Elliot Street by means of sidewalks and sharrows and offers an uninterrupted path for pedestrians, bicyclists and wheelchair users to connect to Cosey Beach Avenue, the shoreline. This extension utilized federal and state funds awarded to build Shoreline Greenway Trail.
Brow said she will soon submit an application to DEEP Recreational Trails for the design phase to extend the trail to the East Haven/New Haven Town line at South End Road to meet
the New Haven Shoreline Greenway Trail/Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
