A Year at Hammonasset

a landscape series

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The Ancient History of Hammonasset’s Coastline

“Connecticut and Long Island Sound were covered with glacial ice at least a mile thick about 21,000 years ago. That ice continually moved south from its origin near Hudson's Bay in Canada. As it moved, the ice picked up loose material on the Earth's surface, from dust to house-sized boulders. The ice moved continually, though very slowly. By the time the ice moved as far south as Long Island, NY, the temperature was warm enough that the front of the ice melted as fast as the ice advanced. Loose material frozen into the ice was dumped as the ice melted. This created a long east-west ridge of unsorted sediments, called a moraine.”

Courtesy of the CT DEP

What’s in a Name?

"Hammonasset" means, "where we dig holes in the ground" and refers to the place where a settlement of eastern woodland Indians farmed along the Hammonasset River. They subsisted on corn, beans, and squash, and by fishing and hunting. The first colonists arrived in 1639. Property changed hands frequently between Native Americans and the first colonists.

Courtesy of the CT DEP

Uncle Sam wants YOU!

During World War II the park was closed to the public and loaned to the federal government as an army reservation. Meigs Point functioned as an aircraft range. Planes flew over Clinton Harbor, fired at the range and then flew out over Long Island Sound.

Courtesy of the CT DEP