The Ferry

Before a railroad bridge was built in 1862 and an automobile bridge in 1911, ferries provided the only passenger service from Saybrook across the Connecticut River. The earliest ferries used various combinations of sail, oar, pole, and tow rope, and a crossing could take several hours. The ferry at Saybrook was chartered in 1662 by the General Court at Hartford, which also set the rates to be charged. John Whittlesey and his brother-in-law William Dudley were the first ferrymen, and their families kept the business for several generations. For almost sixty years there was no wharf on the Saybrook side, so passengers could expect to get their feet wet when going ashore. When the railroad opened in 1852, the ferry Shampishue carried the railroad across the river. By 1888, the steam-powered Lady Fenwick had replaced the old sail-bearing ferries. The automobile drawbridge ended the need for ferries, and the Colonial, the last Saybrook ferry operating across the Connecticut River, made its final run in 1911.

Old Saybrook Center, Connecticut · United States