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Community Corner

Guide Book for New London is now Online with Interactive Features

Crisp, clear photos of New London’s most prominent features, historic architecture, and charm can now be found online with New London Landmark’s interactive guidebook, “New London, Connecticut: Trails & Tales” at www.newlondonlandmarks.org.

With two self-guided walking paths of New London’s historic downtown recommended – the Green Tour, which takes visitors from the Parade Plaza along Bank Street to Fort Trumbull, and the Blue Tour, which begins at State Street’s Parade Plaza and ends at Williams Park, visitors can click upon numbered sites and see past and present photos, as well as glean historical facts and contemporary context.

As visitors explore the streets of New London, they will get a sense of its Colonial inception in 1646, its role in the Revolution, the whaling boom, and its present state as a unique seaside city that celebrates the arts and remains an important hub. 

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One can see the rich maritime history in such sites as Whale Oil Row, the magnificent Greek Revival homes built in 1830 during the whaling boom. Other noted architecture include downtown’s Union Station designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, known as the first American architect to achieve international recognition. New London’s major “skyscraper” is the ten-story Mohican Hotel, designed by William Tuthill in 1896. Tuthill also designed Carnegie Hall. At the tip of State Street’s horizon, one can see the elegant New London County Courthouse, built in 1784. The building is a graceful example of the Federal period and is an iconic landmark of New London. 

Many buildings are rich with stories, like the Shaw Mansion, which was a major attraction for Benedict Arnold’s wrath when he came to burn New London in 1781. The home was a primary target because of Captain Nathaniel Shaw’s privateering activities that involved raiding British ships. Visitors will surely want to visit and walk the halls that echo with Revolutionary defiance. Despite Arnold’s focus on the Shaw Mansion, it was ironically saved by a neighbor who doused the flames with barrels of cider, saving this impressive stone mansion built in 1756. The mansion has been the home of the New London County Historical Society since 1907 and displays many community treasures.

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Other notable sites pointed out for the self-guided Green Tour include the Custom House Maritime Museum, The Hempstead House and Fort Trumbull State Park and Visitors Center.

Parade Plaza is the beginning point for both Tours, and visitors online will see the plaza as it once was, with the Soldiers and Sailors Monument that is a present day landmark. The Parade possesses an energetic presence today, and includes the playful Whale Tail fountain as well as the little red Nathan Hale Schoolhouse in the Nathan Hale Plaza. The Blue Tour also directs visitors to the stately stone Saint James Church, a Gothic Revival design which has seven stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

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