Short Beach is a beach neighborhood situated in
Branford, Connecticut
Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Regi ...
, United States. It is the westernmost of Branford's seven neighborhoods, the others being:
The Hill,
The Center
The Center () is the fifth tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, after International Commerce Centre, Two International Finance Centre (88 storeys), Central Plaza and Bank of China Tower. With a height of , it comprises 73 storeys. The Cente ...
,
Pine Orchard,
Stony Creek,
Indian Neck, and
Brushy Hill. Short Beach's population is approximately 2,500. Approximately one-half mile long, it is situated in
New Haven County
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's five largest cities, New Ha ...
and is bordered by
East Haven to the west, Branford to the north and east and
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, ...
to the south. It is home to many small islands, the largest being Kelsey's Island which has a few small cabins used as summer homes.
Short Beach was once a thriving shoreline vacation village that became almost a completely year-round neighborhood starting in the late 1950s. There are still million-dollar summer homes on the waterfront as well as the old vacation homes. Nowadays Short Beach is a fast-growing area that still retains a neighborhood feel. It is home to people of every economic background and is a safe and heavily policed area. Most of the old cottages have been fixed up, so much so that the area has a newer look than it did just ten years ago. There has been immigration to Short Beach and the
New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
area in general from the former
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
as well as from the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
.
The central portion of the Short Beach neighborhood was listed on 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 ...
as the Short Beach Historic District in 2017.
Attractions
Short Beach is home to half of the famous
Shore Line Trolley Museum, which is also in neighboring
East Haven. Also in Short Beach are the
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is a public sailing facility located on Short Beach in Branford, Connecticut (United States), home of the Yale University sailing team. It is generally abbreviated as "YCYC" and is affectionately pronounced "yic-yic. ...
(YCYC), Shore Automotive, the Adult Day Care Center, Short Beach Church, the local
fire house, which houses and is owned by Short Beach Hose, Hook and Ladder Volunteer Company 4 of the Branford Fire Department, as well as a U. S. Post Office. Short Beach has three parks, the largest being Pardee Park in the center. Short Beach has a three-day festival at the end of summer called ''Short Beach Days'' with a parade, lip-synching contest, races, basketball, and sand castle building.
New Haven
CT Transit F3, F5 and F6 buses run through Short Beach connecting the neighborhood to East Haven,
New Haven
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...
, downtown
Branford and go as far as
Seymour and
Ansonia.
Short Beach is known for a population of
monk parakeet
The monk parakeet (''Myiopsitta monachus''), also known as the monk parrot or Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its averag ...
s that live there. It is said that they escaped from captivity and never left the neighborhood. The parrots took up residence in the community's trees and can be heard and seen all year long.
History
Short Beach was occupied by the
Quinnipiac
The Quinnipiac were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They lived in present-day New Haven County, Connecticut, along the Quinnipiac River. Their primary village, also called Quinnipiac, was where New Haven, Connect ...
and possibly the
Paugussett
The Golden Hill Paugussett is a State recognized tribes, state-recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe in Connecticut. Granted reservations in a number of towns in the 17th century, their land base was whittled away ...
tribes in the 17th century but this information is still disputed. It became part of Branford when the town was established in 1644. The area remained largely undeveloped until the post-Civil War period, when it began a slow development as a summer resort area. By the 1890s the area featured a hotel and a number of seasonal and year-round residences along Beckett Avenue. From 1891 until she died in 1919, poet
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her works include the collection '' Poems of Passion'' and the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you ...
lived on the Short Beach coast overlooking Granite Bay.
["A Celebration of Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Poet, Journalist, and Progressive Thinker,]
Branford Historical Society
Wilcox was influential in promoting the area, and its growth was assured when the
Branford Electric Railway ran its line near Short Beach in 1897. The area's popularity as a summer resort area peaked in the early 1920s, after which it was subjected to increasing suburbanization.
Environment
*Short Beach has a temperate climate and has hot summers and cold winters.
*Many
oak trees, apple trees,
prickly pear, pines and
maple
''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
s grow in the area.
*Common animals in the area include
monk parakeet
The monk parakeet (''Myiopsitta monachus''), also known as the monk parrot or Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its averag ...
s, known locally as "Short Beach parrots," raccoons, mice, possums, skunks,
gulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and Skimmer (bird), skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gul ...
,
pigeons
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
,
common tern
The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...
s, ducks, deer, coyotes, bobcats,
turkeys
The turkey is a large bird in the genus ''Meleagris'', native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (''Meleagris ocell ...
and
chickens
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
. Cornsnakes also live in some Short Beach areas.
References
{{authority control
Branford, Connecticut
Neighborhoods in Connecticut
Historic districts in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut