Devil's Hopyard State Park is a public recreation area located at the Eightmile River's Chapman Falls in the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of East Haddam,

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 capita ...

. The state park includes facilities for hiking, fishing, bicycling, picnicking, and camping. It is managed by the

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is a state agency in the US state of Connecticut. The department oversees the state's natural resources and environment and regulates public utilities and energy policy. It ...

History

The park was the site of an attack by the

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...

, in 1775, on a mill owned by pro-British loyalists. After a portion of the broken millstone was found at the foot of the falls in 2002, a park sign (pictured at left) was erected to present details of the story. The park's falls powered "Beebe's Mills" (named after the original owner) until the 1890s. The site was acquired by the state for use as a state park in 1919 at the prodding of A.G. Willard, a resident of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

who had expressed her concern with the extent of logging operations taking place in the area.

Name

At some time prior to 1800, there was a malt house on George Griffin's farm near a small tributary of the Eightmile River called Malt House Brook. The malt house was abandoned prior to 1814, but during the period of its operation Griffin grew hops in a small clearing—the "hopyard"—beside the road running through the area now called Devil's Hopyard. There are a number of theories as to why the area was named “ Devil's” Hopyard, ranging from a landowner named Dibble to supernatural explanations for the naturally occurring potholes near the falls. A sign in the park (pictured at left) has more on the legends of the etymology of the park's name.

Attractions

The principal feature of the park, Chapman Falls, drops more than over a series of steps in a Scotland

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

stone formation. The Vista Point cliff, located at the end of the Orange Trail, stands 150 to above the Eightmile River. Other attractions include "mini falls" and three historic highway bridges listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

In the news

On March 26, 2012, a large brush fire struck the park. Efforts by firefighters from fourteen towns included burning out the area behind two threatened households. The fire consumed more than fifty acres over two days before authorities let it burn itself out. Officials proposed hikers as a possible cause of the blaze. Six to 12 inches of soot, ash and other residue filled the area for some time thereafter.

References

External links

Devil's Hopyard State Park
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Devil's Hopyard State Park Map
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection {{authority control State parks of Connecticut Parks in Middlesex County, Connecticut Protected areas established in 1919 1919 establishments in Connecticut East Haddam, Connecticut Campgrounds in Connecticut