Local attractions
for the history buff

Nathan Hale School House – Visit the 1750 schoolhouse where our state hero, Nathan Hale, taught as schoolmaster. Sitting atop a hill behind St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, in East Haddam the restored one-room schoolhouse is where the 18-year-old Yale graduate taught 6- to 18-year-olds from 1773 to 1774. Before being hanged as a spy, he spoke his last immortal words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

The grave of Venture Smith (1729-1805) can be found at the First Church of Christ Congregational Cemetery at 489 Town Street, East Haddam. It is a part of the Connecticut Freedom trail. Having come from Guinea West Africa, the son of an African King, Venture was brought to Connecticut where, at age 7, he was sold as a slave. Being most industrious, he purchased his freedom. He spent most of his life as a freeman in East Haddam raising a family and had documented his life as a black man from Africa through slavery to freedom.

East Haddam Historical Society, our town’s own museum, is a must-visit stop to highlight the broad history of the area, town artifacts, its people and industry with varied special collections to ponder. See pictures of the building of the swing bridge!

You might wish to visit the Connecticut River Museum on your journey to visit the Castle. The museum delves into the many facets of preserving the lively history of the Connecticut River.

Legends abound around the bell at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. What is the legend of the bell? The bell in the church belfry is thought to be the oldest bell in North America, dating to 814 A.D., when it was cast in Spain for a monastery. But, is it legend?

Completed in June 1913, the East Haddam Swing Bridge is a steel, movable, swing, truss bridge of three spans crossing as route 82 the Connecticut River between Haddam and East Haddam.

Directly below Gillette Castle on the Connecticut River is a seasonally operational state landmark, the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry. You can take a quick ferry ride between the towns of Chester and Hadlyme right to our lower Castle grounds. Travel by ferry over the Connecticut River with your car or bicycle. The ferry is the second-oldest ferry in the country, having started in 1695. It has been in operation for over 200 years!