East Haddam Historical Society & Museum
Boardman Family
Moodus Mills
Saving Land, Saving History
​Preserves & History
Organizations & Project
Bernstein Preserve
East Haddam Land Trust
Hammond Mill Preserve
The Saving Land, Saving History Project
Morning Bells of Moodus
Patrell Preserve, Chapal Farm
Twine Capital of America
We are excited to announce the launch of our documentary series, SAVING LAND, SAVING HISTORY! If you love to hike the open space preserves or just want to know more about the history and nature of your town then you won't want to miss these beautiful and informative films.
The Saving Land, Saving History display highlights the fascinating ties between the preservation of land and local history and commemorates the East Haddam Land Trust's 40 years of land conservation.
Award-winning local producer/director Ken Simon draws on the knowledge of local historians and conservationists to enliven the history of three historical preserves, the history of the East Haddam Land Trust, and the history of the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum.
​The East Haddam Historical Society will be presenting a multi-media exhibit on "Saving Land, Saving History" at the Museum that will be available when the museum re-opens to the public.
This beautiful parcel of land along the Moodus River, accessed via Falls Road, was donated to the East Haddam Land Trust by East Haddam native Ron Bernstein and his wife Merle in 2007. It comprises 36 acres. The Preserve is most notable for the 80- foot high waterfall near where two 19th century cotton mills were located: Falls Mill (1865-1943) and Atlantic Mill (1857-1939). Remnants of these mills are visible today as reminders of the time when Moodus was known as "The Twine Capital of America."
Patrell Preserve/Chapal Farm
The Patrell Preserve/Chapal Farm is comprised of 109 acres of unspoiled beauty along the historic Eight-Mile River, a nationally recognized Wild and Scenic Waterway, and is renowned for its diversity of geologic sites and wildlife. Incorporating the Richard H. Goodwin trail, a 14-mile long hiking trail through East Haddam and East Lyme, the Patrell Preserve/Chapal Farm encompass ancient lands essential to preserving the lower Connecticut River estuary.
At the 12-acre Hammond Hill Preserve off Dolbia Hill Road West in East Haddam, you can touch remnants of a built-by-hand dam and stroll along the headrace that directed water from the Eightmile River to two former mill sites. Careful placement of boulders and stones dammed the flow of the Eightmile River to power mills 150-200 years ago. Imagine workers trudging each boulder and stone to the dam site that once powered a grist mill, a sawmill, a fulling mill, a blacksmith shop, and a flaxseed oil press into the early 1800s.
Early in the 1900s, Edward C. Hammond took over and refurbished the dam and millpond and used the site as a Boy Scout survival skills training camp.
While hiking here you can see the remnants of the mills and imagine their long history. Today the Preserve protects plant and animal life as part of the federally designated Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed, one of only two such watersheds in Connecticut.
In this bonus clip from the "Saving Land, Saving History" mini-docuseries, East Haddam Historical Society President Bruce Sievers shares what the last surviving Moodus mill owner Crary Brownell told him about how the workday started at the twelve 20th century cotton mills along the Moodus River.
The Twine Capital of America
From the early 1800s into the early 1900s, the modest Moodus River powered 12 mills that produced cotton duck, sail and netting with innovative processes and in such quantity and quality that the village of Moodus was known as the "Twine Capital of America."
The East Haddam Land Trust was formed in 1979 as a non-profit all-volunteer organization with a mission to preserve the natural, historic, and scenic sites of East Haddam and neighboring towns and to raise public awareness of the value of land conservation. The trust manages about 700 acres, and maintains 10 miles of public hiking trails.
​The Saving Land, Saving History Project
This project, a collaboration between the East Haddam Historical Society and East Haddam Land Trust, also commemorates the Land Trust's 40th year as a land conservation organization.
The East Haddam Historical Society & Museum, at 264 Town Street in East Haddam, has developed a "Saving Land, Saving History" exhibit to complement the mini-documentaries shared here. The exhibit highlights some of the Land Trust's preserves and East Haddam's rivers and historic sites. The mini-documentaries are available through the East Haddam Historical Society and East Haddam Land Trust websites. We hope the mini-documentaries will enrich your visits to the Land Trust preserves, strengthen your understanding of the history of East Haddam, and increase your appreciation of the natural resources of the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed.
The "Saving Land, Saving History" project was supported by generous grants from Connecticut Humanities and the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed Coordinating Committee. The project was further supported by East Haddam Historical Society and East Haddam Land Trust, two volunteer non-profit groups working to preserve the history and the natural spaces of East Haddam. Both groups greatly appreciate the work of Ken Simon and his collaborators as well as the many local residents who shared their knowledge to bring this project to life.
We are sincerely thankful to Connecticut Humanities for supporting the Saving Land, Saving History project.