Hammonasset Beach State Park
The Hammonasset Beach State Park is a state park in New Haven County in the US state of Connecticut . The approximately 4 km² large park is 3.2 km east of Madison and south of Interstate 95 on Long Island Sound . The park is the largest state park on Connecticut's Atlantic coast and has the largest campground in the state with over 550 spaces.
geography
The park is located on a promontory called Meigs Point on the right bank of the confluence of the Hammonassett River with Long Island Sound. The park includes over 3 km of seashore and around 1.5 km of river banks. The end of the headland, Meigs Point , consists of salt marshes , which are under protection as the 162 hectare Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve .
geology
During the last glaciation in North America, the Wisconsin Glaciation , the area of the Long Island Sound was covered with a layer of ice more than 1.6 km thick. When the glaciers melted about 17,500 years ago, a terminal moraine was formed , the so-called Hammonasset-Ledyard-Queens River Moraine. The elevations in the Salt Marsh, of which Meigs and Willard's Island are the largest, as well as the rocks exposed by erosion at Meigs Point belong to this terminal moraine.
Flora and fauna
The hilly terminal moraines are forested with trees and bushes, while about 186 hectares consist of salt marshes. This coastal wetland is home to numerous shorebirds and other animals, including the endangered yellow-footed plover , American little tern and brown-coat oystercatcher . Because of their rich food supply, the salt marshes are also important resting areas for migratory birds.
history
The name of the park is of Indian origin and means "where we dug holes in the earth". It refers to a settlement of the Indians on the Hammonasset River, where they grew corn and beans and lived from fishing and hunting. The first European settlers reached the region in 1639 and drove out the Indians.
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company acquired the area at Meigs Point in 1898 and used it as a weapons test site.
In 1919, the state acquired a total of 228 hectares from Clarkson Meigs to create a state park. On July 18, 1920, the state park was opened as the 19th park in Connecticut. 75,000 visitors came to the park in the first season. In 1923 the park was expanded to include Meigs Point, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company's 137 hectare test area. During the Second World War, the park was closed and handed over to the army. Planes practiced in the area, using Clinton Harbor and Meigs Point as targets for target practice.
In the 1990s, large parts of the salt marshes were renatured. Today over a million visitors come to the state park annually.
activities
The park is open all year round. In the main season the parking spaces in the park are chargeable.
With its long sandy beach, the large campsite and its picnic areas, the park offers good leisure and recreational opportunities. A 1.2 km long wooden beach promenade runs along the beach. There are sanitary facilities, picnic pavilions and places as well as kiosks in the park.
The Meigs Point Nature Center , run by the Friends of Hammonasset , a volunteer organization, offers introductions to the nature and wildlife of the coast for visitors and school classes.
literature
- Barbara Sinotte: Connecticut: A Guide to the State Parks & Historic Sites. Hunter Publ., Madison, SD, 2011, ISBN 1588439852
Web links
- State Park website
- Hammonasset Beach State Park on the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
Coordinates: 41 ° 15 '54.4 " N , 72 ° 33' 21.3" W.
Individual evidence
- ↑ HAMMONASSET BEACH STATE PARK SALT MARSH RESTORATION Success Stories. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 31, 2010 ; Retrieved January 13, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Geology of Hammonasset Beach State Park. Retrieved January 10, 2013 .
- ↑ Audubon Connecticut: Hammonasset Beach State Park. Retrieved January 11, 2013 .
- ^ Long Island Sound Foundation: Hammonasset Beach State Park. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved January 12, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Meigs Point Nature Center. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 4, 2013 ; Retrieved January 10, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
