Knowles Landing was Once an Important Port and Tourist Destination

The Middle Haddam section of East Hampton might now seem off the beaten track, but at one time it was a vibrant village on the main thoroughfare – the Connecticut River.

From its settlement in 1723, Knowles Landing, Middle Haddam’s commercial center adjacent to the river, was an important port. Ship owners and tradesmen from the port participated in large numbers during the Revolution as privateers. Thomas Child established a shipbuilding business there in 1797 and the neighborhood successfully focused on producing large and small ships for more than 40 years.

When the shipbuilding industry declined in the area, Knowles Landing became a retirement haven for ship captains. The serene village provided them easy access to the river, and from their porches, they could watch the cargo vessels pass by on the way to Middletown and Hartford and back downriver to New York.

Gradually, the little community along the river became a tourist destination accessible by steamboat. The colonial-style homes of shipbuilders were converted to taverns and stores, and the residents adapted by providing dance halls and social centers for the summer guests.

The Steamboat Dock was located on what is today Blacksmith Hill Road, which runs down to the Connecticut River from Moodus Road.  The steamers that had a regular stop at Middle Haddam, served as passenger vessels and as freight carriers, although the latter role declined with the arrival of the railroad.

In the 1890s, Harriet Brainerd, who lived in the large Queen Anne across the road from the dock and who owned the riverfront property, built a small structure at the river’s edge, known as the Steamboat Dock House. It replaced an earlier building and served as a ticket office for the steamers and as a loading dock for cargo. The attractive steamboat house burned in 1983. The steamers stopped running in the mid-1930s when automobiles made travel even easier and more convenient.

The land along the river, where the dock and dock house once stood, remains connected to the former Brainerd family house and land on the opposite side of the road.  This large lot, which includes the Victorian-period house, tennis courts, riverfront land, a gazebo and a large guest house are currently on the market.  For a little more than $1.5 million, you can have one of the best views in the area and own a piece of East Hampton history.