Hopeville Pond State Park in Griswold, Connecticut, combines recreation with the industrial history of the lost village of Hopeville, part of which lies within the park. The site was first used by Mohegan people, who built stone weirs in the Pachaug River for fishing. Beginning in 1711, mills at the waterfall grew into a woolen mill village that peaked by 1860 but later declined after a series of fires destroyed its mill, church, and early gristmill. Before 1917, a dam created Hopeville Pond as a reservoir for hydroelectric power. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps developed the park and rehabilitated the historic Avery House, and the area became a state park in 1938.

Griswold, Connecticut · USA