Essex, Connecticut Essex, Connecticut Official seal of Essex, Connecticut Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States.
It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton.
8 List of National Historic Sites in Essex Essex CT town historical sign1.jpg Essex is one of the several American suburbs to ever be attacked by a foreign power; this occurred on April 8, 1814, and the economic losses were among the biggest sustained by the United States amid the War of 1812.
28 vessels, with a total value estimated to be close to $200,000 (at a time when a very large two story home in Essex, then known as Potapoug Point, would have been worth no more than $1,000), were finished by the British. One historian has called it the "Pearl Harbor" of that war. On that date, approximately 136 British marines and sailors under the command of Richard Coote (or Coot) rowed 6 boats from four British warships (the Hogue, Endymion, Maidstone and Borer) anchored in Long Island Sound, 6 miles up the Connecticut River, past the unmanned fort in Old Saybrook, arriving at the boat launch at the foot of Main Street in Essex close to 4 A.M.
They quickly commandeered the town, eliciting a promise of no resistance from the Essex militia in return for promising not to harm the townspeople or burn their homes, while a messenger rode to Fort Trumbull in New London for help.
Essex CT town historical sign2.jpg At the time of the raid, Essex (then known as Potopaug) had been a primary center of shipping and ship assembly, but was suffering under a blockade by The British; as a result, the privateers were being constructed.
This may have caught the consideration of The British, who then investigated Essex and launched the prosperous raid. Perhaps as a consequence of the practical, but somewhat less than heroic, response of the town to the raid, shortly afterwards, the name of the town was changed to Essex. On the second Saturday of each May since 1964, the "Sailing Masters of 1812" of Essex memorialize the "Burning of the Ships" with an ancient fife and drum corps parade down Main Street and ceremony at the steamboat dock, wearing the United States naval uniform of that period; by tradition, this event is unpublicized. The Connecticut River Museum, situated at the site where Coot landed, now hosts an exhibit portraying the raid, featuring a large diorama by Russell Joseph Buckingham, a musket ball believed to have been fired then and a plank from the ship Osage, burned by The British.
The three villages of Essex have a unique and interesting history.
Such is the situation in Essex where the villages of Centerbrook, Essex, and Ivoryton evolved at different periods for different reasons.
The Snow House on Main Street, the Nott House on Westbrook Road, the Taylor Bushnell House on Ingham Hill Road, and the Silent Rose House near the train station are fine examples.
'First Baptist Church of Essex, Connecticut.
There were a several homes assembled in Essex Village (known as Potapoug Point until 1854) amid the first half of the 18th century.
The Ebenezer Hayden House (third from the river) was the initial hip-roof home in the lower valley, and the current Episcopal Church Rectory (the Richard Hayden Dwelling) was the first brick home in the lower valley.
Pratt Street runs alongside to Main Street, and many homes on that thoroughfare not only were assembled in the Federal style, but have their roof lines perpendicular to the street, which allows for more homes to be erected on a given highway.
As the assembly of wooden sailing ships faded, the expansion of the ivory and piano parts trade in the village of Ivoryton changed the focal point of Essex again.
The expansion of Comstock, Cheney & Co., one of the two biggest producers of ivory products in the United States, made Ivoryton literally the center of Essex (and the lower Connecticut River Valley).
Contrast this with Essex Village, where there are mostly several Gothic or Victorian style dwellings, two examples of which are the 1855 "Gingerbread House" at the corner of Riverview Street and Maple Avenue, and the Parker House on North Main Street.
Great homes, such as the Dickinson Mansion on North Main Street in Essex Village, to the mansions of A.
The town is made up of three villages: Essex (ZIP code 06426), Centerbrook (06409) and Ivoryton (06442).
The small-town enhance school, Essex Elementary School, educates around 560 students for grades K-6.
Summertime in Essex is warm and humid, with average July temperatures into the 80s.
The Essex Town Hall is positioned on the corner of West Avenue and Grove Street in Essex.
-Essex Police Department (Unionized) is attached to the rear of the town hall (Essex has a resident state trooper as well as 5 constables).
The town pays the Connecticut State Police for a state trooper to supervise the constables.
-Essex Fire Engine Co.
1 has two fire homes: the central fire home on the corner of Route 153 and Route 154 and the sub-station in Ivoryton on Summit Street.
The annual budget for Essex Fire is noted to be about $250,000 plus donations from the public.
-Essex Ambulance Association, Inc.
There are two libraries in Essex: The Essex Library Association, positioned next to the Town Hall (corner of Grove St.
The Essex Library by the Town Hall was recently rebuilt and is very much a center of the community, providing nearly 400 no-charge programs a year for kids and grownups.
There is a building which once homed a Methodist church on the corner of Prospect Street and Main Street, but it is no longer in use.
The First Baptist Church of Essex, Connecticut, assembled in 1846, is notable for being one of only three Egyptian revival churches known to have ever been assembled in the United States.
There is also one Catholic Church, Our Lady of Sorrows, on Prospect Street in Essex Village, just a short walk from Essex downtown.
Essex, like the other two suburbs in the "tri-town area" (Deep River and Chester), is a member of Regional School District #4.
Essex Elementary School is positioned in Centerbrook and serves students in grades Pre K-6 (around 600 students).
The town of Essex sponsors an annual Groundhog Day parade.
A large papier mache groundhog titled "Essex Ed" is carried through town with revelers making noise in order to rouse him from his slumber and bring an end to winter.
The town also sponsors a "Loser's Day Parade," which jubilates the 1814 event of having 29 ships burned in Essex harbor amid a raid by British marines. The first Saturday in June there is a Shad Bake sponsored by the Rotary Club of Essex.
In 1851 was established the Essex Savings Bank positioned on the Main Street (today on the Plains Road), one of the earliest still functioning banks in Connecticut. There are two primary inns in Essex: the Copper Beech Inn in Ivoryton, which has twenty two rooms and two fine-dining restaurants, and the Griswold Inn in downtown Essex, which has thirty-three rooms, two restaurants, retail shops and a taproom recognized by Esquire (magazine) as "one of the top 100 bars in America".
The Essex Art Association Gallery at 10 North Main St.
The Essex Steam Train is one of the most famous and prominent Essex attractions.
The regular train ride goes from Essex to Deep River and then the Becky Thatcher Riverboat takes the passengers up to the Haddam area.
The Essex Clipper Dinner Train goes from Essex all the way up to Haddam.
The Ivoryton Playhouse is a county-wide theater positioned in Essex's village of Ivoryton.
The Connecticut River Museum, positioned at the end of Main Street and right on the Connecticut River, is home to various river artifacts and is home to the Connecticut River Eagle Festival each year.
The Estuary Transit District provides enhance transit throughout Essex and the encircling towns through its 9 Town Transit Service.
Essex Freight Station, added April 19, 1994 a b c d e f A Brief History of Essex, Connecticut: The Great Attack Donald Malcarne, Essex Town Historian, Oct 2007 Essex Police Essex Fire Essex EMS Town of Essex Archived November 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
"A Brief History of Essex Savings Bank".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Essex, Connecticut.
Essex Historical Society Essex Ambulance Association Essex Fire Engine Co.
Categories:
Essex, Connecticut - Towns in Middlesex County, Connecticut - Populated places on the Connecticut River - Towns in Connecticut - Greater Hartford
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