The Wethersfield Cove is a natural inlet in

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield ( ) is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 27,298 at the time ...

, and a former site of much local trade and travel.

Geography

Wethersfield Cove is ten feet above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

and forty miles from

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, ...

. It was originally an

oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meand ...

in 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 ...

. It is located near Old Wethersfield, one of the oldest settlements in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

Thomas Deming built his shipyard on the banks of this natural harbor. Deming launched the ''Tryall'', the first ship built in

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. ...

, from the

cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

in 1649. From 1650-1830, trade with the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

thrived.

Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

s exported lumber, grain, onions, salted beef, fish and

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

, and in exchange received salt, sugar, molasses and rum 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 Cove" was also noted in Revolutionary times as "Blackbird Pond".

Pollution

Some citizens have protested the continued discharge of sewage into the cove, especially after the accidental discharge of 20 million gallons of sewage in 1997, and are lobbying for it to stop, but the proposed mitigation efforts would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Metropolitan District Commission of Connecticut's multi-billion dollar Clean Water Project seeks to address this problem.MDC Clean Water Project website , url=http://thecleanwaterproject.com/aboutus_faq.htm

Gallery

File:Wethersfield Cove - structure.JPG, Restored 17th century warehouse and seasonal museum File:20231207 ring billed gull wethersfield cove PD101422top3.jpg, One of many Ring-billed Gulls that flock to the cove

References

External links

Cove Park siteWethersfield Cove Boating
{{coord, 41, 43, 30, N, 72, 39, 28, W, display=title Wethersfield, Connecticut Estuaries of Connecticut