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Significant
Dates
by Don Malcarne
Town Historian
There
has been a certain amount of confusion regarding the timing
of the founding of Essex, when it was named, and when the current
geographical configuration came into effect. Initially, a look into
when the town was first settled is in order.
The Saybrook Colony was established
in late 1635 at Saybrook Point. This new Colony was not part of
Connecticut at the time, and encompassed the current towns of Old
Lyme, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Essex, Deep River, Chester, and Westbrook.
Within 10 years, a sale arrangement was reached between the Colony
of Connecticut and Lord Fenwick, the head of Saybrook Colony. As
a result, Saybrook became part of Connecticut. In 1648, the Saybrook
Colony was divided into sections. An area including current Chester,
Deep River, and Essex was named Potapoug Quarter. However, this
does not mean Essex was settled then. It was explored and roughly
surveyed. The question here revolves around the definition of the
word "settlement." If this means the permanent presence
of a few families and an accompanying amount of economic activity,
then 1664 is the first meaningful settlement date. In that year,
the small ship "Diligence" was sent with some cargo from
Potapoug Point (the greater Main Street area) to Barbados. At this
juncture, it can be seen that there were already three dates that
could pertain to the settlement of this part of the lower Connecticut
River Valley.
The population of Potapoug Quarter
remained sparse through the 18th century, and with the tremendous
importance of the Puritan Church with the Connecticut Colonial government,
new towns could not be formed unless a Congregational Church could
be supported. As a result, another date applicable to our town's
founding comes into the picture. The Colony of Connecticut allowed
the formation of the Second Ecclesiastical Society in 1722. This
indicated that Potapoug Quarter now had enough residents to be considered
separate from the First Ecclesiastical Society in Saybrook, and
thereby support a church of its own. In effect, 1722 was the time
that Essex (also Chester and Deep River) could be considered a town
of its own.
This situation prevailed for
almost 100 years, when the State Legislature recognized Essex Borough
as a separate entity in May 1820. This was essentially the Essex
Village of today, roughly from the Connecticut River west to the
Middlesex Turnpike (Route #154). The tremendous growth, both demographically
and economically of this area due to shipbuilding was the reason
for this recognition. It was a separate little town with its own
officials. This borough status remained in vogue until 1852, and
it was during this 32-year period that many of the streets in Essex
Village were laid out and named.
In the spring of 1852, the State
Legislature made another change in the status of our town. They
formed the town of Old Saybrook, which included Essex Borough and
the current town of Old Saybrook. This immediately turned into an
untenable situation, for although Essex was far smaller geographically,
it contained 60% of the population and represented two thirds of
the tax base. As a result, in May 1854, the Legislature made a further
change in the status of Essex. It was separated from Old Saybrook,
and made a town in its own right. This new status of Essex remained
in effect for only five years, when on May 23, 1859, the Legislature
further altered the geographical shape of the town. At that time,
what was then the Centerbrook and West Centerbrook (later Ivoryton)
sections of Saybrook were made part of Essex. This created the approximately
12 square mile town we live in today.
This constant change in the
borders of Essex, was really in recognition of the changing center
of social and economic activities in town. We moved from the spiritually
and agriculturally oriented Centerbrook, to the shipbuilding-dominated
Essex Village, to the industrially defined Ivoryton. This helps
to explain why there are three Post Offices, three Congregational
churches, two libraries, etc. in such a small town. Overall, it
can be seen that there are many dates that can define the establishment
of Essex. It all depends on how one views the relative importance
of a period.
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