The Wethersfield Cove is a natural inlet in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

, and a former site of much local trade and travel.

Geography

Wethersfield Cove is ten feet above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

and forty miles from

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

. It was originally an

oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow lake, oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-sh ...

in the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

. It is located near

Old Wethersfield Old Wethersfield, also known as Old Wethersfield Historic District, and historically known as Watertown or Pyquag, is a section of the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut, roughly bounded by the borders of the adjacent city of Hartford and town of R ...

, one of the oldest settlements in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Thomas Deming built his shipyard on the banks of this natural harbor. Deming launched the ''Tryall'', the first ship built in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, from the

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

in 1649. From 1650-1830, trade with the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

thrived.

Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s exported lumber, grain, onions, salted beef, fish and

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

, and in exchange received salt, sugar, molasses and rum from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. "The Cove" was also noted in Revolutionary times as "Blackbird Pond".

Pollution

Some citizens have protested the continued letting of raw sewage into the cove, especially after the accidental spilling of 20 million gallons of sewage in 1997, and are lobbying for it to stop, but such redesigns would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The

Metropolitan District Commission of Connecticut The Metropolitan District Commission of Connecticut (MDC) is a public non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929 to provide drinking water and sewer service to the Hartford area. The original agreement ...

's multi-billion dollar Clean Water Project seeks to address this problem.MDC Clean Water Project website , url=http://thecleanwaterproject.com/aboutus_faq.htm

References

External links

Cove Park site
{{coord, 41, 43, 30, N, 72, 39, 28, W, display=title Wethersfield, Connecticut Estuaries of Connecticut