Treasured Tradition: Visit Olde Mistick Village, Celebrating Its 50th

MYSTIC, CT —Fifty years ago, Martin Olson had an idea to build a shopping mall on land he'd just purchased in Mystic. A mall was a stretch, he was told by a developer. His next idea would result in the creation of a shopping mecca anyway, but decidedly not a mall as they're known.

Olde Mistick Village was born.

According to the Village, "his twin son and daughter, Jerry and Joyce Olson, decided to build a 1720-style Colonial village with a Meeting House, inspired after Peddlers Village in Pennsylvania. Joyce managed the property while Jerry headed the construction, which began in 1972."

Then, like now, the Village has a "town green, a duck pond, birdhouses, and a gazebo" along winding paths peppered with dozens of shops.

In September 1973, hundreds were there when it officially opened as the Village we know today.

"Nearly 50 years later, the Olde Mistick Village has since grown significantly," it explains on its website.

"From its humble family beginnings, the beloved community of shops and restaurants has continued to operate out of love, from the Olson family to yours," the family writes, "We hope that all who stroll the walks of the Village will become as personally attached to its atmosphere as we are in creating it."

An open air attraction next to the Mystic Aquarium, it has 50 shops and eateries in buildings "designed to represent an 18th century New England village."

It has had some 80,000 people do Facebook check-ins, tens of thousands of social media followers and a voluminous list of events.