Stony Creek (Branford)

View along Thimble Islands Road, 6 May 2012

Stony Creek is a coastal village located in Branford, Connecticut which has several unique attractions: the Thimble Islands, the Stony Creek Puppet House (now known as the Legacy Theatre), antique store Stony Creek Depot and the Stony Creek Museum as well as a small public beach, town docks with boat launch, playground and public library.

Stony Creek is in the southeastern section of Branford, centered on a harbor on Long Island Sound. Stony Creek has the ambiance of a small seaside village which retains its roots as a summer vacation location with old Victorian hotels and a working granite quarry. It is known for the Thimble Islands an archipelago of glacial rocks, ranging from 17 acres (6.9 ha) down to stepping-stone size, at the harbor's mouth. Despite their small size, they possess a wealth of history and local lore, as well as providing pleasant scenery. The islands are privately owned but visitors may get an up-close view via several tour boats which run in the spring, summer and autumn.

Stony Creek is home to the all-male Stony Creek Fife & Drum Corps, and the only all-female fife and drum corps, Totoket Ancient Fife & Drum Corps. A large quarry is still working and supplies the distinctive pink/orange Stony Creek granite.[1] This granite was used for the Brooklyn Bridge, the Stony Creek Library, and the newest House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

There are a few retail shops and small eateries in the village. The village traffic is seasonal and peaks between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

In February 2015, Stony Creek Brewery, named after this area of Branford, opened its doors just down the road in Indian Neck. [2]

The novelist Ayn Rand spent the summer in Stony Creek in the late 1930s while her husband, Frank O'Connor did summer stock. She figured out the climax of her novel "The Fountainhead" there.

References

  1. ↑ Wilson H. Faude, Hidden History of Connecticut, page 48, 2010, ISBN 1596293195
  2. ↑ "The 'New' Stony Creek Brewery". brewbound.com. Retrieved 2015-10-20.

Coordinates: 41°15′52″N 72°44′46″W / 41.26444°N 72.74611°W / 41.26444; -72.74611

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