Bluff Point State Park
History:
In the 1930s Bluff Point had at least 100 shacks and cottages as a kind of summer resort called Bluff Point Colony. In 1938 the residents of the community were told they were being evicted and had to leave by October 1st, but nearly the entire point was swept clean by the 1938 Hurricane.
Established as a state park in 1963 though acquisition of the entire point wasn’t completed until 1974.
In 2015, thanks to work by Greg Kent and Dr. Sara Mascia Midway Railroad Roundhouse Archaeological Complex was rediscovered, researched, and added to the State Register of Historical Places. The Midway Roundhouse was built in 1904 containing 20 train stalls and the area once contained the massive railroad roundhouse and turntable, as well as a coal tower, sand houses, bunk houses, a hotel, ash pits, and an icing facility for the combined New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Upgraded in 1917 it lost status over the years and struggled through the Great Depression eventually being razed in 1939. Today you can see the remains of the turntable in the northwest corner of the park.
This park was featured in the 2016 and 2022 Sky’s the Limit Hiking Challenges.
Links:
- Geology of Bluff Point State Park
- Peter Marteka – Bluff Point Offers A Bit Of Cape Cod In Connecticut (2010)
- CTMQ – TSTL’16.14: Bluff Point State Park (2016)
- The Day – History Revisited: A hurricane devastates a Groton colony (2017)
- Dr. Sara Mascia – Midway Railroad Roundhouse Archaeological Complex, Groton CT, A new CT State Archaeological Preserve (2015) Friends of the Office of State Archaeology
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Last updated August 2020
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