Sleepless in Babyland: Day 29: Essex

We heard about a steam train and river boat excursion in Essex. We thought it might be fun to leave a bit early and see Essex too. We did not see much of Essex, as we stopped at the Connecticut River Museum. What a great place that is!

A history bit to start you off

Lon operating the Turtle. He was having fun with it

He read all about the Turtle, and watched the video too. He thought it was so cool.

The War of 1812 is being featured in many museums this year.
HISTORY BIT:
Essex is one of the few American towns to ever be attacked by a foreign power; this occurred on April 8, 1814, and the economic losses were among the largest sustained by the United States during the War of 1812. Twenty eight vessels, with a total value estimated to be close to $200,000 (at a time when a very large two story home in Essex would have been worth no more than $1,000), were destroyed by theBritish. 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 six boats from four British warships anchored in Long Island Sound, six miles up theConnecticut 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. The boats were armed with swivel guns loaded with grapeshot, the officers armed with swords and pistols, the marines with "Brown Bess" muskets, and the sailors with torches and axes; they responded to the single cannon fired by the town's surprised defenders with a massive volley, neither side incurring any casualties. 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. A dubious local myth states that Coote did not burn the town as a favor to a local merchant who greeted him with a secret Masonic handshake.
The British marched to the Bushnell Tavern (now the Griswold Inn), then seized the town's stores of rope (each ship of that time requiring eight miles of rope) and, according to the April 19, 1814 Hartford Courant, "$100,000 or upwards" worth of rum (acquired from the East Indies in trade for beef and wood from Connecticut).

Their main targets, however, were the newly constructed privateers in the harbor, ready or nearly ready for sail, which they burned. Within six hours, their mission was accomplished, and the British went downstream with two captured ships in tow, including the Black Prince, a vessel that may well have primarily inspired the raid Stranded in the river by low tide, they were forced to wait at the extreme range of the shots of the volunteers from the nearby town of Killingworth who lined the riverbanks; two marines were killed and the captured ships had to be destroyed, but the rest of the men escaped safely when the tide turned
At the time of the raid, Essex (then known as Potopaug) had been a major center of shipping and shipbuilding, but was suffering under a blockade by the British; as a result, the privateers were being constructed. Captain Richard Hayden, a prominent shipbuilder, had advertised his Black Prince in aNew York City newspaper as "a 315 ton sharp schooner that would make an ideal privateer." This may have caught the attention of the British, who then investigated Essex and launched the successful 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.

Keeping up his piloting skills

Listening on the audio sticks they have all around the museum. He enjoyed picking those up and hearing more about what he was seeing

Another history bit. Since we are in Niantic, CT now.

Looking out at the sailboats anchored out. He wants to rent one so Mommy can teach him how to sail it. He wants to spend the day out on the water, just messing about.

They had a boat puzzle to build. He laid the keel and put in the ribs, added the deck frame and the masts. It was fun and very interesting

I bought Lon a book called History Detectives. It looked like we could have alot of fun with that. They did not have a charm for me, but when I saw this pinwheel ring that really spins, I wanted that! SO I got it! Very silly. I really like it.

We had time to grab a quick bite to eat. Well, it was not as quick as we wanted it to be. Took such a long time to get our food that Lon was learning to hand spoons from his nose.

We made it to the train, just as it was pulling into the station.

BIG history bit on the train!

Unlike many railroad museums and excursions, the Valley Railroad Company has been in existance in one form or the other since 1868. In some ways, the history of this little railroad is as exciting as a ride on the railroad today, and reflects the ups and downs of the American rail system from the early days of steam to the present.
In the 1830's the first growth of railroads began in New England. After one failed attempt to start, the Valley Railroad Company, headed by the President of the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company (James C. Walkeley), obtained the state charter to build and form the company on July 17, 1868.
During 1868-1869, survey crews worked to map out the line from Hartford to Saybrook Point, and in 1870, actual construction of the line began. With the ease of building a rail line in the Connecticut River Valley (no tunnels or major bridges), the line was completed during the summer of 1871 with the first ceremonial train run over the 45 mile line on July 29, 1871.
Two days later the first "regular" train was run and on August 24, 1871 the Connecticut Valley Railroad finally declared an official opening. The initial schedules of trains operating along the Valley Railroad called for one mixed (passenger and freight) and four passenger trains each way daily (except Sunday) with fifteen stops along the way.
Financial trouble plagued many early railroads and the Connecticut Valley found theirs in 1876 when it defaulted on its second mortgage bonds and was placed in receivership.
On July 1, 1880 a company called the Hartford & Connecticut Valley Railroad took control, but also at this time the New Haven Railroad was rapidly building up its stature in Southern New England. Seeing a good chance to sell their new line at a good price, the owners of the Hartford & Connecticut Valley Railroad convinced the New Haven that it should buy control. In 1882 the New Haven did and ten years later (1892), the Hartford & Connecticut Valley Railroad became part of the New Haven system.
The incorporation was good for the Valley Railroad as the New Haven put money and improvements into the line. During this time, the Valley Railroad grew to its limit: never being more than a busy branch line with passenger service and freight service consisting of deliveries of supplies and merchandise to communities and factories along the line. Shortly after WW1, as roads, automobiles, and trucks improved, the Valley Railroad saw a reduction in service; and by the late 1950's it saw only weekday local service with the speed on the line down to 30 MPH from nearly 55 MPH.
Hard times fell on the New Haven Railroad itself and in 1961 it fell into bankruptcy. With a major reduction on spending money to maintain its branch lines, the Valley Railroad soon fell into disrepair, finding only two slow moving freight trains a week using the rusted rails.
Business failed along the Valley Railroad line and the New Haven also failed. In 1968 the New Haven was no longer a railroad with the last train run over the Valley in March 1968.
Concerned volunteers got together to keep the now abandoned railroad from being torn up by the new owners, Penn Central. This group managed to obtain a temporary lease from Penn Central in 1969 and on August 15, 1969 the Penn Central turned over this branch line to the State of Connecticut.
The State of Connecticut granted a formal lease to the Valley Railroad Company on June 1, 1970. This lease authorized the company to use the 22.67 miles of track for freight and passenger service; and on July 29, 1971 (100 years to the day of the first ceremonial run), after thousands of hours of mostly volunteer effort, the first train of the new Valley Railroad steamed from Essex to Deep River and has been steaming ever since.

On the train. We bought very nice seats, and we had beverage service too. That was wonderful on a warm day! We all got a bottle of cold water.

Our car was built for Pullam in the 1930s. The details on everything are wonderful. This is the air vent cover, near the floor.

Swans out the window. I will never get tired of seeing swans in the wild.

Our boat, the Becky Thatcher. As viewed from our seats on the train

Gillette's Castle. No, not the razor blades. We might go there tomorrow. Lon has three options for tomorrow and can only chose two -- we only have so much daylight. I will add the history bit about it now, in case we go to option 2. I will let you know tomorrow what he picks

HISTORY BIT:

Gillette Castle State Park is straddling the towns of East Haddam and Lyme, Connecticut, in the United States. Sitting high above theConnecticut River, the castle was originally a private residence commissioned and designed by William Gillette, an American actor who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage.
Gillette's estate, called Seventh Sister, was built in 1914 on a 184-acre (74 ha) tract on top of the southernmost of a chain of hills known as the Seven Sisters. After Gillette died, with no wife or children, his will precluded the possession of his castle by any "blithering sap-head who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded". Connecticut's government took over the property in 1943, renaming the home as Gillette's Castle and the estate as Gillette Castle State Park. The estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Located at 67 River Road in East Haddam, the park consists of the castle and its grounds and receives 300,000 annual visitors. It reopened in 2002 after four years of restoration, costing 11 million dollars. It now includes a museum, hiking trails, and a picnic area, and holds many theatrical celebrations.
There are a number of oddities in the castle personally designed by Gillette, such as unusual doorknobs and locks, and a system of hidden mirrors for surveillance of the public rooms from the master bedroom.
The grounds used to have a railroad track with a working steam engine and electric engine that visitors could ride on, also designed by Gillette. Some of the track was purchased by Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut and is in use to transport guests around the lake. The remaining track was pulled up and converted into walking trails. From the castle's garden one can see the Connecticut River. The engines were donated back to the park in 1992, where the electric engine is on display and the steam engine awaits restoration.

Yes, I am that cool.

Lon blowing the whistle he got from the gift shop. They were free to the kids who rode the train. It is red, but for some reason it showed up yellow in the photo. He liked being on the boat best of all. Maybe it was the two ice creams he had on board.