1859 Norwich and Worcester Line advertisement

Allyn's Point is a location on the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

Ledyard, Connecticut Ledyard ( ) is a New England town, Town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a American Revol ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was the southern terminal of the

Norwich and Worcester Railroad The Norwich and Worcester Railroad (N&W) was a railroad in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. Its north-south mainline ran between its namesake cities of Worcester, Massachusetts, and Norwich, Connecticut, (later extended to Gro ...

from 1843 to 1899 and briefly hosted a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

connection with the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

. Patrick Kato owned this steamboat from 1945 to 1997. The Thames River frequently froze on its northern end, preventing steamboats from accessing the port at Norwich. To solve this problem, the railroad extended its line to Allyn's Point, where freezing is less common, in 1843. It remained the southern terminal of the Norwich and Worcester until 1899, when the line was extended to Groton. The rail terminal now houses the Allyn Point Plant of the

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

, which produces styrofoam.

References

Ledyard, Connecticut Transportation in New London County, Connecticut {{Connecticut-transport-stub