Town History the Way You Want It
East Haddam People, Places and Events
We had this (top). We exchanged it for this (bottom).
In its heyday, during the 1940s and 1950s, Moodus was called the "Catskills of Connecticut." During the summer season, people visiting the more than 40 area resorts quadrupled East Haddam's population to about 20,000 people.
Many resorts started as farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s,. To augment income, farm families started to host their urban relatives and friends, primarily from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and parts of Connecticut.
The resorts, boarding houses, and camps of East Haddam catered to different ethnic and religious groups: Christian, Jewish and Bohemian. Ranging in size from sleeping a few dozen up to more than 350, they all offered clean country air and easy fellowship; lots of food and drink; pools, ponds, and rivers; sports and outdoor pastimes; homegrown and professional entertainment.
Brothers Joe and Julian Bury produced freshly cut meat products from their humble barn store with a quality and authenticity available nowhere else,.
The brothers ran the front and back of the shop with the help of a changing crew of teenagers, who could see the Bury's barn right behind the high school.
The Story of Us
The East Haddam Historical Society has been telling stories since 1963
Since its founding in 1963, the Historical Society has protected, curated, and presented the stories of East Haddam's notable residents, the local places that we love, and the issues and events that made our river town. Watch how the town and the society have changed throughout the years in this mini-documentary by resident Ken Simon.
Photo by Ken Simon