Old Saybrook CT (Connecticut)

Old Saybrook CT is a port town in Connecticut USA (Middlesex County) with population around 10,000. As a cruise port, Old Saybrook is included in the schedule of the USA's largest cruise shipping company American Cruise Lines/ACL.

The next table shows ACL's 7-night/8-day "Yankee Seaports Cruise" itinerary that visits the historic town.

On the return route (Boston to NYC) are visited Plymouth MA, New London CT, Old Saybrook CT (DAY 5), Sag Harbor NY, and Port Jefferson NY, and NYC (DAY 8). These voyages cost ~USD 6000 per person.

Old Saybrook as a settlement (originally named Kievits Hoek) was established in the early-17th-century (1624) by Dutch settlers as a trading post. It soon was abandoned after the settlers moved to Nieuw Amsterdam/NYC (at Manhattan Island's southern tip).

In 1633, at Hartford CT (Park River), the Dutch West India Company (Westindische Compagnie/1621-1792) established Huys de Goede Hoop (Fort Good Hope) as a fortified trading post housing a factory. All settlements were part of the Dutch colony Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland/1614-74).

In 1635, the British established the Saybrook Colony (at the Connecticut River's mouth/current-day Old Saybrook) to control the trade route to the upper river valley. Soon the wooden fort burned and a new fortification was built. The second fort (on the Battery Mound) was abandoned in the 19th century and in 1871, the hill was leveled during the construction of the Valley Railroad.

In 1873, the town became rail-connected to the national passenger train transportation system with the opening of the Saybrook Train Station. Today, Amtrak trains serve the town, providing daily connections to Boston and New York City. Regular commuter trains (by the Connecticut Department of Transportation via Shore Line East) connect Old Saybrook (via New Haven, New London, and Stamford) to NYC (Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal).