Editing Old Saybrook, Connecticut (section)

==History==

In 1624, shortly after establishing their [[New Netherland settlements|first settlement]] at [[Governors Island]], [[New Netherlander|Dutch settlers]] established a short-lived [[factory (trading post)|factory]] at present-day Old Saybrook.<ref>{{Citation   | last = Tully   | first = William B.   | title = Town of Old Saybrook   | work = The History of Middlesex County 1635–1885   | publisher = J. H. Beers & Co.   | year = 1884   | page = 442   | url = http://dunhamwilcox.net/town_hist/old_saybrook_hist.htm   }}</ref> The trading post was named Kievits Hoek, or "Plover's Corner". Kievits Hoek was soon abandoned as the Dutch consolidated settlement at [[New Amsterdam]]. In 1633, [[Fort Goede Hoop]] (''Huys de Goede Hoop''), was established at present-day Hartford.

The [[Pequot people|Pequot]] siege of Saybrook Fort<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pequotwar.org/archaeology/overview-siege-and-battle-of-saybrook-fort/|title=The Siege and Battle of Saybrook Fort &#124; Battlefields of the Pequot War|access-date=July 27, 2020}}</ref> took place from September 1636 to March 1637 during the [[Pequot War]].

Following the August 1636 Massachusetts Bay attack on Manisses, Pequot, and Western Niantic villages, the Pequot retaliation fell on the settlers at Saybrook.  Over a period of eight months, the Pequot killed and wounded more than 20 settlers at and near Saybrook Fort. The settlers were attacked when they ventured far from their palisade, and the Pequot destroyed their provisions and burned warehouses while they attempted to interrupt river traffic to Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford.<ref>{{cite book |title=Colonial Connecticut: A History |first=Robert J. |last=Taylor |publisher=KTO Press |location=Milwood, NY |year=1979 |page=13}}</ref>
During the Siege and Battle of Saybrook Fort, the Pequot and New England colonists assessed each other's military capabilities, and adjusted countertactics. Each side's tactical modifications show a high degree of sophistication, planning, and ingenuity.  Lessons learned during the siege of Saybrook escalated the Pequot War in [[Connecticut Colony]], and indirectly resulted in the attack and destruction of Mistick Fort<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pequotwar.org/archaeology/overviewbattle-of-mistic-fort/|title=The Battle of Mistick Fort &#124; Battlefields of the Pequot War|access-date=July 27, 2020}}</ref> (May 1637).

The [[Saybrook Colony]] was established in late 1635 at the mouth of the [[Connecticut River]], in what is today Old Saybrook and environs.  [[John Winthrop, the Younger]], son of the Governor of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], was designated governor by the group that claimed possession of the land via a deed of conveyance from [[Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick]]. Winthrop was aided by Colonel [[George Fenwick (MP)|George Fenwick]] and Captain [[Lion Gardiner]]. As the principals of the group who had planned to settle the colony were supporters of [[Oliver Cromwell]] and remained in England during the [[English Civil War]], the colony struggled. In 1644, Fenwick agreed to merge the colony with the more vibrant [[Connecticut Colony]] a few miles upriver, which purchased the land and fort from him.

The design of the [[Flag of Connecticut]] comes from the seal of Saybrook Colony. The seal was brought from England by Colonel George Fenwick, and depicted 15 grapevines and a hand in the upper left corner with a scroll reading "[[Seal of Connecticut|Qui Transtulit Sustinet]]", "He who transplanted sustains".

In 1647 [[John Mason (''circa'' 1600–1672)|Major John Mason]] assumed command of [[Saybrook Colony|Saybrook (Colony)]] Fort, which controlled the main trade and supply route to the upper river valley. The fort promptly and mysteriously burned to the ground, but another improved fort was quickly built nearby on the Battery Mound. He spent the next 12 years there and also served as commissioner of the [[New England Confederation|United Colonies]], the chief military officer, [[magistrate]], and peacekeeper. In 1659, almost all settlers from Saybrook under the leadership of Mason, purchased land from [[Uncas]], ''sachem'' of the [[Mohegan]] tribe, removed to and founded [[Norwich, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofnorwich00caulk|title=History of Norwich|last=Caulkins|first=Frances Manwaring|date=1866|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofnorwich00caulk/page/57 57]}}</ref>  This second fort was eventually abandoned after 200 years and the battery mound remained until 1871, when the Valley Railroad leveled it and other hills on the point to provide needed fill for their tracks across the north and south coves.

In 1661, a witch trial was held of Saybrook residents Margaret Jennings and her husband Nicholas, who were accused of causing the deaths of Marie Marvin and others. The trial resulted in a finding that they were probably witches, but the proof was not sufficient to execute them.<ref>Mahan, Russell, Thomas Leffingwell: The Connecticut Pioneer Who Rescued Chief Uncas and the Mohegans; Historical Enterprises, Santa Clara, UT, 2018, pp. 57–61.</ref>

On October 9, 1701, the Collegiate School of Connecticut was chartered in Old Saybrook. It moved to [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] in 1716, and was later renamed [[Yale University]].

[[American Turtle|''Turtle'']]—the first American submarine—was invented in Westbrook, Connecticut, in 1775 by David Bushnell. A replica is housed at the [[Connecticut River Museum]] in [[Essex, Connecticut|Essex]].

[[Image:Turtle model at the Royal navy submarine museum.jpg|thumb|upright|''Turtle'' replica on display at the [[Royal Navy Submarine Museum]]]]

The General Assembly created the separate town of Old Saybrook from Saybrook in 1852. Old Saybrook was partitioned again in 1854, when the northern part became the town of Essex.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://csginc.org/csg_city_details.php?id=106|title=Connecticut Society of Genealogists: Old Saybrook|access-date=July 27, 2020}}</ref>

A 1964 meeting at Old Saybrook, the First Invitational Conference on Humanistic Psychology, was key to the early development of [[humanistic psychology]]. [[Saybrook University]] in California, established in 1971, is named after the conference.

=== Later development ===

In early 2007, plans were established to return the former town hall building to its original use as a theater. The theater was completed in 2009 and is named the [[Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center]].
[[File: Katharine-Hepburn-Cultural-Arts-Center.jpg |thumb|right| The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in 2011]]
The town has committed spending almost $2 million on the renovation, and at least $810,000 were to be contributed by the state. A committee was attempting to raise another $2.5 million, partly for the renovation and to add two wings, but also for an endowment. The structure was originally built in 1901, and was a theater until the 1940s. After renovations, the theater was to seat 250, and Hepburn memorabilia would be displayed there.<ref>Wojtas, Joe, "Hepburn's Town to Honor Her With a Theater", ''The New York Times'', "Connecticut" section, p. 2, February 18, 2007</ref>