New London Landmarks Spotlights Whale Plaques

Driving around New London, you might have noticed small plaques on the front of older homes and buildings.  Each plaque consists of a person’s name, a drawing of a whale and a date.  What are these plaques and what do they represent?  More importantly, who is putting up these signs?

This past Saturday, the organization invited the public to a tea at 5 Granite Street to learn about New London’s whale plaques.  Located in a stately home, the tea gave a chance for New London residents to find out how and when these plaques were developed.

In 1985, New London Landmarks began the Whale Plaque program.  Any residence or commercial building over 50 years old qualifies to have a plaque.  So far, 400 plaques have been placed throughout New London, and there are always more being researched.

What do these plaques represent?  Each building is the subject of months, if not years, of study.  Volunteers go back through old city maps, tax records, water and sewer maps, and town directories to discover who the first owner of each building was.  According to volunteer Heather Grigsby, who has been working on the plaque project for 12 years, “the plaques don’t necessarily refer to the person who lived there, but who owned the building.  They weren’t always the same person.”  Once approved, the house or building is presented with a plaque, stating who the first owner was and what year the building was built.

Today, current owners of a house may request a plaque for their home for a fee.  However, once a year, one house is chosen to receive a plaque and a Restoration Award.  Houses that have been recently remodeled and restored are eligible for this yearly award.

Researching the backgrounds of these buildings can be a difficult task.  As Grigsby notes, “we have seven currently waiting to be done.  I’ve had several which took over a year to complete.”   Looking over the various city records sometimes results in a dead end though missing or incomplete records, and the volunteers must look in a different direction.

Grigsby does not work on the Whale Plaque program by herself.  “We have a title researcher named Ellen Scalla.  She does a great deal of work.  But we both hold jobs, so this project is too much for one person to do by herself.” 

If you are interested in the Whale Plaque program for your own house, or just to find out where they are, contact www.newlondonlandmarks.org.  Here you can learn more about the plaques and other restoration activities.   Next time you are driving around town or walking down the street, pay attention to the glorious old homes and buildings we have here in New London.  Most likely they will have the familiar whale plaques you may not have understood before.  Thanks to New London Landmarks, now you know what they mean.