Stonington Borough

A Half Mile Peninsula Borough Settled From 1649, Largely Unaltered, With Connecticut'S Last Commercial Fishing Fleet Still Working From Its Dock And The 1840 Old Lighthouse Museum At The Point · Stonington, Connecticut

Stonington Borough is a half-mile of peninsula running out into Little Narragansett Bay, settled from 1649, and it is the rare New England harbour village that still works for a living: Connecticut's last commercial fishing fleet ties up at the town dock, mostly Portuguese-descended families, and the boats go out in the dark. That keeps the place from becoming entirely a set. Water Street runs the length of the peninsula lined with eighteenth and nineteenth century houses, galleries and a few very good restaurants, and ends at the point where the 1840 lighthouse stands - the first lighthouse in Connecticut, now a small museum, with a tower you climb for a view across to Rhode Island. The borough repelled a British naval bombardment in 1814, which it has never entirely stopped mentioning. It is ten minutes from Mystic and about a tenth as visited, which makes it the obvious antidote once the Seaport has worn you out - though the half-mile peninsula has very little parking on it, so arrive early and walk the whole thing.

7 Water Street, Stonington, Stonington, Connecticut, 06378, United States

The borough is a public village and its streets, the point and the small beach are open at all hours, free. Shops and galleries on Water Street keep their own hours, generally late morning to late afternoon, with several closed on Mondays and reduced openings in winter. The Old Lighthouse Museum and the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House are seasonal, generally May to October. The fishing dock is a working business, not an attraction.

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