Caching Friday in Groton, CT 8/7/2009

Friday we drove into Groton, Ct for some more of the historic caches in this area. Our first cache was at the Avery memorial which was the site of the house built in 1656 by Captain James Avery. This hive of the Avery's was occupied by its famous builder until his death. Ownership passed from father to son, until it was burned in July 1894.
Next cache was a NRV at a high water marker near the river. Next we were off to Avery Point and the UConn campus again to do a cache at the Avery Point Lighthouse. This tower, located on the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus, was the last lighthouse built in the state of Connecticut. The campus at Avery Point was once the estate of wealthy industrialist Morton F. Plant. After Plant's death the estate was sold to the State of Connecticut in 1939. In the early 1940s, the U.S. Coast Guard took over the site and converted it to a training station. The lighthouse was built in 1943. It was operated as a private aid to navigation beginning in 1944, displaying a fixed white light, later changed to flashing green. After the Coast Guard left the site in 1967, the lighthouse was extinguished and became the property of the state of Connecticut. In 1997, University of Connecticut officials called the tower a safety hazard because of its deteriorating condition. Jim Streeter, who was then the deputy mayor of Groton, launched an effort to restore the tower. The effort grew into the Avery Point Lighthouse Society, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. In December 2001, after more than a week of preparation, the wooden lantern was removed. A duplicate lantern was constructed by the West Mystic Wooden Boat Building Company, which is owned and operated by Steve Jones, a professor at the Avery Point Campus (and a former lighthouse keeper at Harbor of Refuge Light, Delaware). The duplicate lantern was an "in kind" donation.
In September 2003, work began on the tower. The restoration was completed in early 2006, and the tower was relighted in a gala ceremony on October 15.
Our next cache was located at Fort Griswold. Fort Griswold is an American military base, now decommissioned, in Groton, Connecticut. Named after then Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold, the fort played a key role in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. In tandem with Fort Trumbull on the opposite side of the harbor, Griswold served to defend the port of New London, a supply center for the new Continental Army and a friendly port for Connecticut-sanctioned privateers who preyed on British ships. In September 1781 British troops under Benedict Arnold raided and burned New London in the Battle of Groton Heights with the objective of ending the harassment at sea. Fort Griswold had a key strategic position above the Thames River, but the British knew the fort's inner workings thanks to the turncoat who gave numerous secrets of American defenses to the British forces he commanded. Arnold, knowing Griswold's layout and precise position, approached the harbor from such an angle that Griswold's gun positions could never draw an effective shot on the British fleet. Arnold's troops eventually made landfall, and the fort's garrison fought back. Artillery barrages and musket fire brought (relatively) heavy casualties to each side, the fighting continuing even past commands to stop. The British eventually captured the fort and tried to destroy it, though the plan was foiled as a patriot put out the British fire before it could reach Griswold's gunpowder stores. When the British finally made it in, Colonel Ledyard surrendered, gave the commanding officer his sword, and was killed with his own sword. Arnold only commanded a raiding party, not a conquering force, so the fort was abandoned as Arnold left New London in flames. The base would be rebuilt and manned in several other conflicts, but the Battle of Groton Heights was its most prominent use. The State of Connecticut owns and operates the site as Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park. The site includes the restored earthwork battery, cannons, and a later period shot furnace and powder magazine. The grounds include several monuments and memorials to state residents who fought in different wars. The Groton Monument is a granite monument dedicated to the defenders who fell during the Battle of Groton Heights on September 6, 1781. Built between 1826 and 1830, the Monument stands 135 feet tall with 166 steps. The adjacent Monument House Museum features exhibits about the Revolutionary War and is operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Visitors can climb the monument and visit the museum from Memorial Day through Labor Day. We saw it all as we walked down the steep hill to get the cache and see the shot furnace and powder magazine and then back up (WHEW) steep hill to see the museum and the monument.
Next cache was in a small park overlooking the waterfront that was built in honor of the 38 patriots who were carried as prisoners in boats to New York from this shore after the battle of Groton Heights September 6, 1781.
Next cache was located at the Old Town Mill in New London which was one of CT's earliest industrial sites. New London's first mill was built on the site in 1650 by town founder John Winthrop Jr. Throughout the colonial period, farmers brought their corn, wheat and rye to be ground into flour. The mill was rebuilt many times, most notably after it was burned by the turncoat Benedict Arnold during the British raid on New London in 1781. In 1871 a bark mill was added to chop cornstalks and husks for livestock fodder. This was one of America's first corn meal mills.
Next it was on to 2 cemetery caches with the first being in the backyard of a house and was on the doorstep of the Baptist Meeting House and was named the Pepper Box Cemetery because of its shape. It was owned jointly and used by the First and Seventh Day Baptist Churches. Some of the headstones dated back to the middle 1700's and early 1800's. Our last cache was located at a cemetery that had no name but some of the headstones dated back to the 1780's and 90's.
We drove back to the coach and had lunch then drove down to Noank, CT to meet Chris at Abbott's Lobster in the Rough. Corinna was supposed to come too but she had to make a quick visit home because of the death of a family friend. Basically all they had on the menu was lobster, lobster and more lobster. We had a delicious hot lobster sandwich that is their specialty and I had some lobster bisque. After dinner we drove back to the coach for the evening.
Well time to say until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad