East Lyme is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

New London County, Connecticut New London County is a County (United States), county in the southeastern corner of Connecticut and comprises the Norwich, Connecticut, Norwich-New London, Connecticut Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Hartford, Conne ...

, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

was 18,693 at the 2020 census. The villages of

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' * Niantic Correctional Institution, now known as York Correctional Institution ...

and

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

are located in the town.

Geography

East Lyme is located in southern New London County, west of

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

and Montville, east of Lyme and Old Lyme, and south of Salem.

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), 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 (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

is to the south. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 19%, is water.

Villages

The town consists primarily of two villages, Flanders and

. It is common for the town of East Lyme to be erroneously called "Niantic", due to this side of town being the "beach" side which is popular with tourists and visitors in the summer months. Niantic's population doubles in the summer months for the beach season, and it has a much higher density than the more sparsely populated Flanders side of town, which is known for its apple orchards, the town's high school, and the forest.

Niantic

The village of Niantic gets its name from the

or Nehantic people, whose ranging grounds once extended from Wecapaug Brook, in what is now

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, to 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 into Long Isl ...

. Shortly before the first settlers arrived, the

Pequots The Pequot ( ) are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, o ...

had invaded Nehantic territory and annexed about half of the land claimed by the tribe. According to local historian Olive Tubbs Chendali:

It was the construction of the railroad in 1851 that lured people to the shoreline which up to this time had been known - not as Niantic - but as "The Bank". Long before this time, however, as evidenced by ''The Diary of Joshua Hempstead - 1711 - 1758'' it was known as "Nahantick" "Nyantick" or "Nehantic", the home territory of the Nehantic Indians.

Sportfishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit (economics), profit; or subs ...

and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

s dominate the village's industry along with summer tourism and restaurant trade. Strong regional businesses include seafood restaurants and hotels/motels serving the town's beaches and the casinos at

Foxwoods Foxwoods Resort Casino is an integrated resort owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their Indian reservation, reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casino ...

and

Mohegan Sun Mohegan Sun is a large casino and entertainment complex located on 240 acres (97 ha) of the Mohegan Indian Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut, along the banks of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. It is owned and operated by the fe ...

. Rocky Neck State Park features camping, swimming and picnic areas along with numerous marinas and sportfishing companies. The Niantic Bay Boardwalk is a one-mile (1.6 km) long walkway that runs parallel to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

’s shoreline railroad tracks and spans Niantic Bay from the

Niantic River The Niantic River is a mainly tidal river in eastern Connecticut. It is crossed by the Niantic River Bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It separates the towns of East Lyme and Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Irel ...

inlet to Hole-in-the-Wall municipal beach. It first opened to the public in 2005, but was closed from about 2011 due to a combination of Amtrak building a new railroad bridge across the Niantic River, which required a re-positioning of the approach tracks, and damage caused by

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, first hurricane, and first major ...

in October 2011. The boardwalk fully re-opened to the public in March 2016. The Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut is located in East Lyme's original public library on Main Street. The museum is aimed primarily at children ages infant to ten years old. The current public library is located on Society Road, away from Niantic. The village of Niantic includes the beach communities of Attawan Beach, Black Point, Crescent Beach, Giants Neck Beach, Giants Neck Heights, Oak Grove Beach, Old Black Point, Pine Grove, and Saunder's Point. East Lyme and Niantic station was an

station that closed in 1981. There are currently proposals to rebuild the station to accommodate

Shore Line East Shore Line East (SLE) is a commuter rail service which operates along the Northeast Corridor through southern Connecticut, United States. The rail service is a fully owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and i ...

trains.

Flanders

The village of Flanders, originally a farming area along the Old Post Road, gets its name from the development of woolen mills similar to that in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The heart of the village is located at Flanders Four Corners at the intersection of Chesterfield Road ( Route 161) and

Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...

(

Route 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

). This area is the site of many small stores and businesses, as well as East Lyme High School, Flanders Elementary School, and the Board of Education. Flanders was the original center of East Lyme society with dozens of 18th century homes, shops and public inns situated along the Boston Post Road until the early 1800s. It lost its pre-eminence as Niantic began to flourish, first with the growth of commercial fishing and then with the construction of the Shore Line Railway. Many of the original Flanders homes have been lost as a result of the construction of Interstate 95 in the 1950s and subsequent commercial construction at the Four Corners area. For example, the old Caulkins Tavern stood at the site of the current CVS and was a well-traveled and documented stopping place in the 18th century from none other than

Sarah Kemble Knight Sarah Kemble Knight (April 19, 1666 – September 25, 1727) was an American teacher and businesswoman, who is remembered for a brief diary of a journey from Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to New York City, Province of New York, in 1704–1705, ...

in her diary, as well as General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, who stopped here with thousands of troops in 1776. Some homes remain closer to the Waterford line at the site of the old Beckwith Shipyard at the head of the Niantic River.

Other minor communities

Golden Spur is a community located at the head of the Niantic River, which earned it its other name, "Head of the River". In the eighteenth century it was the site of the Beckwith shipyard. By the turn of the 20th century it was the site of an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

accessible by trolley run by the East Lyme Street Railway. The park operated until 1924.

Topography

The

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of East Lyme consists of rolling hills and lush valleys rounded by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Hills rise to elevations of above sea level in the eastern and central areas of the town. The highest point in town is an unnamed hill with an elevation of located in Nehantic State Forest in the northwest corner of the town. East Lyme is especially scenic in the summer when the trees are in bloom. On its east and southern sides, the town abuts tidewater. The tidal

on the east feeds Niantic Bay, an arm of

, which forms the southern edge of the town.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 18,118 people, 6,308 households, and 4,535 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 7,459 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 87.29%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.37%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.44% Native American, 2.82% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.21% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.59% of the

. There were 6,308 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males. The

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the town was $66,539, and the median income for a family was $74,430. Males had a median income of $53,333 versus $37,162 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $28,765. About 1.7% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

The town's public schools are operated by the East Lyme School District. The school district consists of one high school, East Lyme High School; one middle school, East Lyme Middle School (grades 5–8); and three elementary schools: *Flanders Elementary School (grades Pre-K–4), *Lillie B. Haynes Elementary School (grades Pre-K–4), and *Niantic Center School (grades K–4). East Lyme High School has been recognized by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' magazine as one of the top 1,000 high schools in the country and by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 500 high schools in the United States. In 2017, the East Lyme High School earned a National Blue Ribbon Distinction by U.S. Department of Education. The awards are for schools that continue to show high achievement or make strong progress toward closing achievements gaps. East Lyme High School hosts th
East Lyme Aquatic & Fitness Center
The center contains an eight-lane, , competition swimming and diving pool, and a fitness facility with Nautilus equipment, free weights, and a cardiovascular line. The facility is used by high school swimming and diving teams as well as being open to the public, on a fee basis, when not in use by the school. East Lyme High School athletic teams have recently won the Class L State Championships in girls volleyball for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, and reached the Class M State Finals in girls tennis in 2012. The baseball team also reached the Class L State finals in 2015 and 2016. The cross country team has achieved unparalleled athletic success at East Lyme, winning three consecutive Class MM State titles in 2017, 2018 & 2019. Students from the neighboring town of Salem also attend East Lyme High School. The East Lyme Middle School is a 1999–2000 National Blue Ribbon School and a 2004 New England League of Middle Schools Spotlight School. It is also the Connecticut Association of Schools 2013–2014 School of the Year. It includes a high tech computer lab and a spacious library. The Middle School uses a team program called kivas. A kiva contains a science teacher, a language arts or English teacher, a social studies teacher and a math teacher. Some kivas are smaller and have a math and science teacher and a language arts and social studies teacher. There are 11 kivas consisting of two types: multi-age looping and two-year looping. The last kiva is a world language kiva where students can study French or Spanish.

History

The Thomas Lee House, built , is the oldest house in Connecticut that is still in its primitive state. This building is located in the southwestern section of East Lyme, adjacent to Rocky Neck State Park, at the intersection of

Connecticut Route 156 Route 156 is a Connecticut state highway running from East Haddam to Waterford. Route description Route 156 begins at an intersection with Route 82 in southeastern East Haddam and heads southeast into Lyme. It continues south through Lyme ...

and Giants Neck Road. Co-located on this site is the one-room Little Boston Schoolhouse, which was relocated to its current location from across Route 156. The town features six homes from 1699 or earlier, and the Old Stone Church Burial Ground from 1719 located off Society and Riverview roads. The area occupied by the town was originally inhabited by the Nehantic people, who maintained villages in the present-day Indian Woods section as well as on Black Point, in the McCook's Beach area and near the Niantic River. The tribe allied itself with the colonists in the 1636 war against the

Pequot people The Pequot ( ) are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, ...

. The Nehantic were reported to have died out in the mid-19th century, but there still exist a Nehantic community today. The 1750s

Ezra Stiles Ezra Stiles ( – May 12, 1795) was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According ...

map shows the Nehantic village in what is now Indian Woods as consisting of "12 or 13 huts". East Lyme, then a part of Lyme, had several taverns which offered stopping places for travelers such as

. These included Calkins Tavern on what is now Boston Post Road, Royce's Tavern, and Taber Tavern near present-day

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

. At least 45 Revolutionary War veterans are buried within the borders of East Lyme, and countless more veterans from East Lyme found resting places in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Moses Warren, along with General

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

originally of Lyme and

Moses Cleaveland Moses Cleaveland (January 29, 1754 – November 16, 1806) was an American lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1796. During the Ame ...

, set out to survey the Ohio Territory in the latter part of the 1790s and has Warren County,

named after him.

Notable locations

* Morton Freeman Plant Hunting Lodge – built in 1908, added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1988. * Samuel Smith House – built in 1685, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. * Smith-Harris House – built in 1845, this Greek Revival home was added as the "Thomas Avery House" to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. * Thomas Lee House – built , added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. One of the oldest houses in the state. * William Gorton Farm – added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Media

Library

The first library was started in 1888 and was called the Niantic Library and Reading Room Association. There were 65 founding members. In 1897 the library was formally incorporated as "The Niantic Public Library Association" by the state of Connecticut. The library moved a few times until a permanent structure was built in 1920 on Main Street. In 1966 a wing was added, and in 1979 another addition was added. In 1990 the library moved into the new Community Center/Library complex, where it exists today.

Radio

FM station WNLC is based in East Lyme.

Movies

Portions of the made-for-TV movie ''

Disaster on the Coastliner ''Disaster on the Coastliner'' is a 1979 American made-for-television action drama film. It was directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starred Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux, William Sha ...

'', released October 29, 1979, were filmed in East Lyme. In 2016, East Lyme was used as a filming location for the Lifetime thriller ''Hunter's Cove'', which was renamed ''Stalker's Prey'' when it was released on February 9, 2017.

Economy

According to 2009 statistics 42.2 percent of the town's business was focused in the services industry. A

service industry The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the s ...

is a business that focuses on retail, food services, distribution, and transportation. The second largest sector is the trade industry with 23.1% of the town's business, followed by construction and mining which accounts for 12.5% of the town businesses. The largest employer in town is the state of Connecticut's Department of Corrections which runs a women's prison in the west end of town,

York Correctional Institution Janet S. York Correctional Institution is Connecticut's only state prison for women, located in Niantic. The facility opened in its current form in October, 1994, and houses a maximum of 1500 at a range of security levels from minimum to super max ...

. The Gates Correctional Institute for men, also in town, closed in 2011.

Beaches

Public beaches

* Rocky Neck State Park – a state park comprising East Beach and West Beach * McCook Park Beach – locally known as "McCook's", located on the western side of McCook Point Park, and immediately adjacent to the private Crescent Beach. This beach, along with its associated public park, was acquired by the town of East Lyme in 1953 from the estate of the McCook Family. This beach is open to the public, on a fee basis, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and is open free of charge during all other times. Access to this beach is controlled via locked gate. The normal park hours are 8:00 a.m. until dusk each day. * Hole-in-the-Wall Beach – an approximately beach that adjoins McCook Point Park. It is open to the public, on a fee basis, between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The normal park hours are 8:00 a.m. until dusk. Access is through a walkway underneath railroad tracks used by

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...

. The tunnel is located at the end of Baptist Lane. Free public parking is available, but entrance to the beach is monitored during the summer to ensure people entering have paid for access. It also provides access to the Niantic Beach Boardwalk that was built along the shoreline connecting with Railroad Beach. Known as the Niantic Bay Overlook, it is approximately 1.0 miles (1.6 km) long. The Overlook parallels the north shore of Niantic Bay and runs adjacent to the Northeast Corridor Amtrak line and consists of an elevated boardwalk and a level stone-dust-filled walkway. * Railroad Beach – the beach at the eastern end of the Niantic Bay Overlook, locally known as "Railroad Beach" due to its proximity with the Niantic Railroad Drawbridge and the Amtrak Northeast Corridor mainline. Access to this beach is from the Niantic Bay Overlook via Hole-in-the-Wall Beach or from Cini Park via the walkway under the railroad drawbridge.

Private beaches

* Crescent Beach – adjacent to McCooks; reserved for homeowners in the area * Oak Grove Beach * Black Point Beach – for members of the Black Point Beach Club Association * Old Black Point Beach – for homeowners in Old Black Point. * Attawan Beach – adjacent to Black Point; for homeowners in the Attawan Beach Community * Giants Neck Heights Beach – for members of the Giants Neck Heights Association. Located at the southeastern end of the Rocky Neck beach. It features a jetty that is popular with local crabbers and amateur photographers—and seagulls who drop clams and mussels on the cement surface to crack them open for eating. Use of this beach is restricted to the approximately 400 homeowners of the Giants Neck Height Association. * Pine Grove – For members of the Pine Grove Beach Association * Oswegatchie Hills Club – For the families living in Saunders Point, between Smith Cove and Niantic Bay.

Notable people

* William Colepaugh (1918–2005), Nazi sympathizer who grew up on Black Point and traveled to Germany in 1944 to be trained as a spy *

Tom Danielson Thomas Danielson (born March 13, 1978) is an American retired professional road racing cyclist who competed professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the Mercury Cycling Team (2002), the Saturn Cycling Team (2003), (2004), (2005–2007) and (2 ...

(born 1978), professional cyclist for Team Garmin, finishing 8th in the 2011 Tour de France * John Ellis (born 1948), Former Major League Baseball player and cleanup hitter for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

in the 1970's. Founder of the CT Sports Foundation against Cancer * Pete Walker (born 1969), Former Major League Baseball player and current Pitching Coach for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

* John McDonald (born 1974), Former Major League Baseball player and current Infield Coach for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Rajai Davis Rajai Davis (; born October 19, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tig ...

(born 1980), Major League Baseball player for the

. Hit a game tying home run in Game 7 of the

2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...

against the ultimately victorious

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

* Charles Drake (real name Charles Ruppert) (1917–1994), actor in over 80 films and numerous television shows *

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League ...

(1921–2003), Hall of Fame professional football player * Anne Rogers Minor (1864–1947), artist, national president of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

from 1920 to 1923 * Jay Allen Sanford, author and cartoonist best known as the co-creator of Rock 'N' Roll Comics, and for his work with Revolutionary Comics, Carnal Comics, and the

San Diego Reader The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in San Diego County, California. Published weekly since October 1972, the ''Reader'' is distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes and cooperating retail outlets. Hi ...

* Emily Steel, journalist at The New York Times, whose investigative wor
forced
Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly out of the network in April 2017 * James Stevenson (1929–2017), illustrator and author of over 100 children's books whose cartoons appear regularly in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

* Ed Toth, drummer currently with

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...

, formerly with

Vertical Horizon Vertical Horizon is an American alternative rock band, formed in Washington, D.C. Vocalists and guitarists Matt Scannell and Keith Kane started the band in 1991 when they were students at Georgetown University. The band have undergone multiple ...

and Jennifer Culture *

Jeremy Powers Jeremy Powers (born June 29, 1983) is an American former professional racing cyclist, who has achieved over 90 UCI victories (the most wins by an American male cyclo-cross rider), four United States National Cyclo-cross Championships, USA Cycloc ...

, East Lyme native and former professional racing cyclist, who possesses the most wins by an American male cyclo-cross rider * Vladimir Peter Tytla (1904–1968), known as Bill Tytla, one of the original

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

Places of worship

* Christ Lutheran Church; 24 Society Road, Niantic, CT 06357;

Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, sa ...

* Lighthouse Assembly of God; 315 Flanders Road, East Lyme, CT 06333;

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

* Flanders Baptist Church; 138 Boston Post Road, East Lyme, CT 06333;

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

* Saint Matthias Church; 317 Chesterfield Road, East Lyme, CT 06333;

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

* Saint Matthias Parish Center; 317 Chesterfield Road, East Lyme, CT 06333;

* Miracle Temple Church; 18 Dean Road, East Lyme, CT 06333; Non-denominational * Niantic Community Church; 170 Pennsylvania Avenue, Niantic CT 06357;

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

* Saint Agnes Church; 22 Haigh Avenue, Niantic, CT 06357;

* Niantic Baptist Church; 443 Main Street, Niantic, CT 06357;

* Saint John's Episcopal Church; 400 Main Street, Niantic, CT 06357; Episcopal

Cemeteries

Active

*East Lyme Cemetery, Boston Post Road *Stone Church, intersection of Society and Riverview roads, Niantic *Union Cemetery, East Pattagansett Road, Niantic

Historical

There are 16 historical cemeteries in East Lyme currently maintained by the Historic East Lyme Cemetery Association.

References

External links

Town of East Lyme official websiteEast Lyme Historical SocietyEast Lyme Public Library
* {{authority control Towns in New London County, Connecticut Populated coastal places in Connecticut Towns in Connecticut 1839 establishments in Connecticut Towns in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut