Dutch explorer Adriaen Block (c.1567-1627) is credited as the first European to sail up the Connecticut River. The Dutch wanted to establish beaver trade with the Native Americans. In 1633 a fort known as the House of Hope was constructed along the banks of the Connecticut River near Hartford to engage in regular beaver trade with the natives as well as planting a national presence in the new land. Dutch dominance did not last, however. Within a few short years, an influx of English settlers overwhelmed the small Dutch contingent and took over as the leading European presence in the River Valley.

Invented by David Bushnell in Old Saybrook in 1776, the first submarine – the Turtle – was employed against the British in New York harbor during the American Revolutionary War. The Connecticut River Museum owns a fully interactive replica which allows visitors to climb in and experience a virtual dive into history. Crank the cranks, pedal the pedals and strike a blow for liberty! The museum also owns a replica Turtle that has done water trials.

During the War of 1812 the British blockaded Long Island Sound, limiting local shipping and aggravating the maritime populace of Connecticut. In 1814, the shipbuilding community of Pettipaug (now known as Essex) had a harbor full of vessels, some newly built, and others idle because of the blockade. In the early morning hours of April 8, 1814, a British raiding party of 136 sailors and marines invaded the sleeping town and burned all the vessels it found. The British retreated downriver with two of Pettipaug’s finest new vessels but accidently grounded them necessitating the burning of those ships too. As American forces gathered at the mouth of the River to attack the raiding party on their return, British Commanded Richard Coote waited until nightfall to attempt their escape. Americans killed two sailors and wounded an additional two with cannon and musket fire, but Coote’s party escaped under the cloak of darkness and made it safely back to their ships anchored at the mouth of the River. The raid inflicted great financial loss (27 ships burned) and humiliated the town.

After the American Revolution, Connecticut merchants invested in numerous trading ventures to ports around the world. Shipyards along the Connecticut River built schooners, sloops and brigs for trade in the Caribbean, known as the West Indies. New Englanders traded timber, agricultural products and livestock, and brought back rum, fruits, sugar, cigars, indigo and molasses. The port of Middletown became a major commercial headquarters for this trade during the 1780s to about 1810. The Connecticut River Museum holds the Middletown Custom House records for this important period of trade. The first ship to sail to the West Indies from the Connecticut River, Tryall, left Wethersfield in 1649.