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 ...

in New London County,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States, situated on the eastern side of 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 ...

. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 census. Lyme is the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...

History

In February 1665, the portion of the territory of the

Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in what is today Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential politic ...

east of the

was set off as the plantation of East Saybrook, which included present-day Lyme, Old Lyme, and the western part of East Lyme. In 1667, the Connecticut General Court formally recognized the East Saybrook plantation as the town of Lyme, named after

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

, a coastal town in the southwest of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The eastern portion of Lyme (bordering the town 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 ...

) separated from Lyme in 1823 and became part of East Lyme. The southern portion of Lyme (along

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, ...

) separated in 1855 as South Lyme (renamed Old Lyme in 1857). Both changes were consistent with the then-existing laws of the state of Connecticut.

Geography

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 are land and , or 7.63%, are water.

Principal communities

* Hadlyme * Hamburg (town center) * North Lyme Other minor communities and geographic areas are Becket Hill, Bill Hill, Brockway's Ferry (also known as Brockway Landing), Brush Hill, Elys Ferry, Grassy Hill, Gungy, Joshuatown, Lord Hill, Mt. Archer, Pleasant Valley, Rogers Lake West Shore, and Sterling City.

Principal bodies of water

Coves along the Connecticut River

* Hamburg Cove. * Lord Cove (a brackish tidal marsh, fed in part by Lord, Deep, and Mack creeks). * Selden Cove. * Whalebone Cove (aka Hadlyme Cove or North Cove).

Lakes and ponds

* Cedar Lake ( formed by the damming of Cedar Pond Brook). * Joshua Pond – a.k.a. Lower Pond (east of Brockways Ferry Rd; formed by the damming of Joshua Creek). * Moulsons Pond (formed by the damming of Eightmile River). * Norwich Pond (formed by the damming of Falls Brook). * Rogers Lake (partly in Lyme; formed by the damming of Mill Brook, the dam now equipped with a fish ladder). * Uncas Pond (formed by the damming of Falls Brook). * Upper Pond (along Tantumorantum Rd; formed by the damming of Joshua Creek).

Rivers, creeks , and brooks

* Eightmile River; a federally designated "Wild and Scenic River." * Beaver Brook (a tributary of Eightmile River). * Broad Swamp Brook (a tributary of Grassy Hill Brook). * Cedar Pond Brook (a tributary of Beaver Brook). * Cranberry Meadow Brook (a tributary of Eightmile River). * Deep Creek (a tributary of the Connecticut River). * East Branch Eightmile River (a tributary of Eightmile River). * Falls Brook (a tributary of Eightmile River and Hamburg Cove). * Grassy Hill Brook (mostly in Lyme, but crosses into Old Lyme before feeding into Rogers Lake). * Hemlock Valley Brook (a tributary of Whalebone Creek). * Hungerford Brook (a tributary of Whalebone Creek). * Joshua Creek – a.k.a. Rams Horn Creek (a tributary of the Connecticut River). * Lord Creek (a tributary of the Connecticut River). * Mack Creek (a tributary of the Connecticut River). * Mill Brook (enters Rogers Lake in Lyme and exits the lake in Old Lyme; a tributary of the Lieutenant River). * Roaring Brook (a tributary of Whalebone Creek). * Selden Creek (a tributary of the Connecticut River). * Whalebone Creek (mouth is located at the head of Whalebone Cove).

Demographics

2010 and 2020 censuses

As of the 2010

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 ...

, Lyme had a population of 2,406. Its racial and ethnic makeup was 96.5% non-Hispanic white, 0.1% non-Hispanic black, 0.1% non-Hispanic Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% non-Hispanic from some other race, 0.6% from two or more races and 1.7% Hispanic or Latino.

Voter registration

The number of Lyme residents registering with the Democratic party has grown in recent years, from 541 in 2015 to 757 in 2022.

Ancestry/Ethnicity

According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2017 the largest (those over 1% of the population) self-identified ancestry/ethnic groups in Lyme were:

Public facilities

Civic and fraternal

* Hadlyme Public Hall (63 Ferry Road) * Lyme Consolidated School (478 Hamburg Road) * Lyme Grange Hall (2 Sterling City Road) * Lyme Public Hall Association (249 Hamburg Road) * Lyme Public Library (482 Hamburg Road) * Lyme Volunteer Fire Co. Hadlyme Station (6 Norwich Salem Road) * Lyme Volunteer Fire Co. Lyme Station (213 Hamburg Road)

Governmental

* Hadlyme Ferry Boat Launch (154 Ferry Road) * Hadlyme Post Office (1 Ferry Road) * Lyme Town Hall (480 Hamburg Road)

Religious

* The First Congregational Church of Lyme (Sterling City Road)

Points of interest

State parks and forests

Selden Neck State Park and Becket Hill State Park Reserve are wholly located in Lyme. Nehantic State Forest and Gillette Castle State Park are partly located in Lyme.

On the National Register of Historic Places

* Cooper Site, added November 15, 1987. * Gillette Castle (partly in Lyme), added July 31, 1986. * Hadlyme Ferry Historic District, added December 21, 1994. * Hamburg Bridge Historic District (Joshuatown Road and Old Hamburg Road), added April 10, 1983. * Hamburg Cove Site, added November 15, 1987. * Lord Cove Site, added November 15, 1987. * Selden Island Site, added November 15, 1987.

Public transportation

The Estuary Transit District provides public transportation throughout Lyme and the surrounding towns through its 9 Town Transit Service. Services include connections to Old Saybrook station, served by

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 ...

and

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 ...

railroads.

Lyme in literature, art, and film

* ''Sleep'', Andy Warhol's 1964 movie, was filmed in Lyme.

Notable people

Robert Ballard Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is noted for his work in underwater archaeology (maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...

(born 1942), lives in Lyme; oceanographer * Joan Bennett (1910–1990), buried in Lyme; film and television actress * Hiel Brockway (died 1842), born in Lyme; founder of

Brockport, New York Brockport is a village (New York), village in Monroe County, New York, United States. Most of the village is within the town of Sweden, New York, Sweden, with two small portions in the town of Clarkson, New York, Clarkson. The population was 7,1 ...

* Zebulon Brockway (1827–1920), born in Lyme; penologist; "Father of prison reform" in the United States * Daniel Chadwick (1825–1884), born in Lyme; lawyer and politician * Donald Barr Chidsey (1902–1981), lived in Lyme for many years; novelist and historian *

Wequash Cooke Wequash Cooke (also known as: Wequash Cook or Weekwash or Weekwosh or Wequashcuk) (died 1642) was allegedly one of the earliest Native American converts to Protestant Christianity, and as a sagamore he played an important role in the 1637 Pequo ...

(died 1642), buried in Lyme; Native American leader * William Diard (1924–2009), retired to Lyme and died there; operatic tenor * Dominick Dunne (1925–2009), owned a house in (and was buried in) Lyme (Hadlyme); author, journalist, and film producer * John Ely (1737–1800), born in Lyme; surgeon and colonel in the American Revolution *

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great ...

(1903–1975), lived in Lyme from the 1940s through the rest of his life; photographer * Gladys Kelley Fitch (1896–1971), lived in Lyme; artist; member Old Lyme Art Colony * Matthew Griswold (1714–1799), born in Lyme; governor of Connecticut (1784–1786) *

Roger Griswold Roger Griswold (; May 21, 1762 – October 25, 1812) was a lawyer, politician and judge from Connecticut. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court and the List of Governors of C ...

(1762–1812), born in Lyme; son of Matthew; US congressman (1785–1805), governor of Connecticut (1811–1812) * Roger Hilsman (1919–2014), lived in Lyme; member Lyme Democratic Committee; World War II hero, diplomat, and author *

Harry Holtzman Harry Holtzman (June 8, 1912 – September 25, 1987) was an American artist and founding member of the American Abstract Artists group. Early life At the age of fourteen, Holtzman visited the ''Société Anonyme’s'' 1926 “International ...

(1912–1987), lived in Lyme; abstract artist * Stephen Johnson (1724–1786), minister Lyme First Congregational;

pamphleteer A pamphleteer is a historical term used to describe someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articu ...

* Ezra Lee (1749–1821), born in Lyme; commander of the ''Turtle'' submarine during the Revolutionary War, and world's first submariner * Beatrice Lillie (1894–1989), lived on Grassy Hill Rd, Lyme in the 1970s; Canadian-born actress * Abijah Perkins Marvin (1813–1889), born in Lyme; minister, writer, and teacher; member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 * Dudley Marvin (1786–1856), born in Lyme; New York congressman * Charles J. McCurdy (1797–1891), born and died in Lyme; Lt. Governor of Connecticut * William Brown Meloney (1905–1971) and Rose Franken (1895–1988), lived in Lyme; husband-wife writing and play production team *

Robert Mulligan Robert Patrick Mulligan (August 23, 1925 – December 20, 2008) was an American director and producer. He is best known for his sensitive dramas, including ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' Summer of '42'' (1971), '' The Other'' (1972), '' Sam ...

(1925–2008), died at home in Lyme; film director; directed ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

'' * Jonathan Parsons (1705–1776), Lyme clergyman * Samuel Holden Parsons (1737–1789), born in Lyme; brigadier general in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

* Jedediah Peck (1748–1821), born in Lyme; "Father of the Common School System" in New York state * John Sill Rogers (1796–1860), born in Lyme; physician and politician * Timothy Rogers (1756-1834), born in Lyme; Quaker leader and founder of Newmarket and Pickering,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. * Sewell Sillman (1924–1992), lived in Lyme and died there; painter, educator, and art print publisher * Ansel Sterling (1782–1853), born in Lyme; congressman from Connecticut * Micah Sterling (1784–1844), born in Lyme; congressman from New York * Allen Tucker (1838–1903), born in Lyme; Medal of Honor recipient in the American Civil War * Henry Matson Waite (1787–1869), born in Lyme; Chief Justice of Connecticut Supreme Court * Morrison Remick Waite (1816–1888), born in Lyme;

Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...

References

External links

Town of Lyme official website

Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools (Regional District 18)
{{authority control Towns in New London County, Connecticut Connecticut populated places on the Connecticut River Towns in Connecticut 1667 establishments in Connecticut Populated places established in 1645 Towns in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut