Quinnipiac River Historic District Walking Tour
The Fair Haven and Fair Haven Heights neighborhoods have their origins in the late 18th century, when a village named Dragon first sprang up along both banks of the Quinnipiac River. The river had sustained many generations of the Quinnipiac tribe before their displacement by colonial settlers beginning in 1638; it was likewise the engine of the village’s vibrant maritime economy. A significant portion of the buildings in the historic district date from Fair Haven’s heyday as a bustling center for oystering and other trade in the 19th century.
This New Haven Preservation Trust walking tour will cover just under a mile of Quinnipiac Avenue from the Grand Avenue bridge to the Ferry Street bridge, and will highlight features of the working waterfront that link the present to the neighborhood’s maritime past. The tour will be led by Patricia Kane, activist and Fair Haven Heights resident, and Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, Director of Photo Archives of the New Haven Museum, with a special appearance by Patty King from Norm Bloom and Son LLC / Copps Island Oysters along with Neil Berro, an amateur historian who recently completed a manuscript on the New Haven oyster industry.
Free and open to the public. Registration is requested by Thursday, September 9: ElizabethHolt@nhpt.org.