The town of Saybrook found in the 1600's has changed over the years. Originally the boundaries of Saybrook extended east of the Connecticut River. In 1667 the part of Saybrook east of the Connecticut River was incorporated as the town of Lyme. In 1832 the northern part of the original Saybrook was incorporated as the town of Chester. In 1840, the section of Saybrook southwest of Chester along Long Island Sound was incorporated as the town of Westbrook. In 1852 the lower part of what remained of the original town of Saybrook west of the Connecticut River was incorporated as the town of Old Saybrook. The name of the northern section remained Saybrook. In 1854 the town of Old Saybrook split. The southern portion retained the name Old Saybrook. The is the town of Old Saybrook today, although local people frequently refer to it as "Saybrook". In 1854 the northern part changed its name to "Essex, the name still used today. In 1947, the part of the original 1600 Saybrook that retained the name Saybrook, changed its name from "Saybrook' to "Deep River". On today's map you will find these towns on the western side of the Connecticut, reading from north to south, Chester, Deep River, Essex, Old Saybrook. Westbrook is west of Old Saybrook on Long Island Sound. All are in Middlesex County. This is also a good example of how many towns in Connecticut were formed from larger towns over the period of a few hundred years. My source for this information was the chart "Connecticut Towns and Their Establishment " found on the Connecticut State Library website at http://www.cslib.org/cttowns.htm Old members of this list may know about this chart, but many new members may not. I keep copy I printed off the state library site beside my computer. In know this gets confusing. However, knowing the geographical history of the place where your ancestors lived is also important. Many families changed towns of residence without changing houses. Fruitful Hunting, Marilyn CT On Mon, 14 Jan 2002 11:50:35 EST [email protected] writes: > WOW! What a great start we're off to! > Saybrook was IN M/sex County, yes? I have Old Saybrook on my list > of M/sex > County towns, but I should also include Saybrook, right? > This is getting good! > Coralynn > > > ==== CTMIDDLE Mailing List ==== > Visit the Godfrey Memorial Library Website > http://www.godfrey.org > Middletown, Middlesex Co., CT > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >