A shipbuilding town between the Thames and the Mystic, where Fort Griswold's defenders stood on Groton Heights in 1781, Noank built ships and fishing smacks, and the world's first nuclear submarine was launched in 1954.

New London County · Record checked October 11, 2026

38,411Population2020 census1
1705Became a townset off from New London's east side1
135 ftGroton Monumentgranite obelisk on Groton Heights, finished 18302
123 yearsThree Wightmansfather, son and grandson leading Connecticut's first Baptist church3
13National Registerplaces and districts on the list, including two sites4

Groton on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Groton, Connecticut in 2026, with Groton Heights, the submarine base, Bluff Point, Noank and 34 numbered landmarks

2026

Groton today

By KNOWOL

Groton from the Thames to the Mystic, with shaded hills from the uplands near Old Mystic down to the coves and points on Long Island Sound, every street, Groton Heights, Noank and Bluff Point, and a guide of 34 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.5

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Groton

Mother Bailey

Anna Warner was born in Groton in 1758, lost her parents at about ten, and grew up on her uncle Edward Mills's farm in Pleasant Valley. On September 6, 1781, he went to the fort and was mortally wounded, and Anna walked there to find him. She married Elijah Bailey, Groton's postmaster for about forty years. During the British blockade of the War of 1812, soldiers short of cartridge wadding met her in the street, and she handed over her flannel petticoat. Decatur gave a ball with her as guest of honor, and Lafayette, Monroe and Jackson came to call. She read the Bible through every year for fifty-six years, kept the post office after her husband died, and lived to ninety-two.6789

The morning at Fort Griswold

Fort Griswold was finished in 1778 on Groton Heights, a hill one writer of the time called higher than any for miles. On September 6, 1781, about 800 British troops attacked it, and some 160 defenders under Colonel William Ledyard held out until the fort was overrun. Eighty-five died, Ledyard among them, killed after he had handed over his sword. The list of the dead reads like a Groton family roll, with nine Averys on it, and Lambert Latham and Jordan Freeman, two Black soldiers. The Kinne Meeting House lost sixty men of its congregation. The town paid for the 135-foot Groton Monument with a lottery and finished it in 1830.10111121314152

Five villages and a post office in each

In 1883 Groton had five villages, each with its own post office: Groton Centre to the north, Mystic River to the east, Noank and Poquonnock to the south, and Groton Bank to the west. Groton Bank sloped so evenly to the Thames that the whole village could be seen at once. Center Groton had been meant to be the town's metropolis but stayed farm country. At Poquonnock Bridge, fish guano from the Pine Island works turned poor fields into rich ones, and oysters grew in the river. Noank sent out fishing smacks; Elihu Spicer started as a cook on the Thetis, one of the first, and ran the British blockade in open boats in 1812.16171819

Through the years

25 moments from 1650 to today.

  1. 1650Europeans settle this Pequot land on the east side of the Thames.5
  2. 1656Captain James Avery builds the house later called the Hive of the Averys at the head of Poquonnock Plain.20
  3. 1705Groton separates from New London and becomes a town, named for Groton in Suffolk, England.1
  4. 1705Rev. Valentine Wightman gathers the first Baptist church in Connecticut here.3
  5. 1705In December the new town holds its first town meeting and hires John Barnard as schoolmaster.21
  6. 1767The Kinne Meeting House is built for Groton's Congregational church.14
  7. 1778Fort Griswold is finished on Groton Heights to guard the harbor.10
  8. 1781On September 6, Benedict Arnold's troops take Fort Griswold in the Battle of Groton Heights, and 85 defenders die.1
  9. 1813Anna Warner Bailey gives up her flannel petticoat for cartridge wadding during the British blockade.8
  10. 1814Mystic men lure a British barge to Groton Long Point and win $2,600 in prize money.1
  11. 1830The Groton Monument, paid for by a lottery, is completed on Groton Heights.2
  12. 1836Ledyard, the old north part of town, is set off as its own town.1
  13. 1843New Baptist churches are formed at Noank and on Groton Bank.17
  14. 1848After Elijah Bailey's death, Anna Bailey takes over as Groton's postmaster.9
  15. 1854Groton and Stonington buy the Mystic River toll bridge for $8,000 and make it free.22
  16. 1862The ironclad Galena is launched from the Mystic River on Valentine's Day.1
  17. 1868Morgan Point Lighthouse, a granite building with an octagonal tower, is built at Noank.23
  18. 1872The New London Navy Yard is founded on the Groton shore of the Thames.1
  19. 1882Fish works on Pine Island press bony fish for oil and grind the rest into fertilizer.18
  20. 1894The Hive of the Averys, still in the family after 238 years, burns on July 20.20
  21. 1899Captain Jimmy Sistare opens the Palmer House hotel in Noank.24
  22. 1903The City of Groton is incorporated within the town.5
  23. 1916The Navy yard, home to submarines since 1915, is officially renamed a submarine base.1
  24. 1931Electric Boat lays down Cuttlefish, the first submarine built in Groton.1
  25. 1954USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, is launched at Electric Boat.25

Places to see

The numbers match the landmark guide printed on the 2026 map.

  • 1USS NautilusSubmarine Force Museum. The first nuclear-powered submarine.Visit their website
  • 3Groton MonumentGroton Heights. Granite obelisk of 1830, 135 feet.Visit their website
  • 5Bluff Point State ParkMid-shoreline. An 806-acre undeveloped peninsula.Visit their website
  • 7Noank Historic DistrictNoank. About 260 shipyard-era houses.
  • 12Groton Bank Historic DistrictCity of Groton. Whaling-era homes on Groton Heights.
  • 14New London Ledge LighthouseMouth of the harbor. Second Empire lighthouse of 1909.Visit their website
  • 24Morgan Point LighthouseNoank. Granite light station of 1868.
  • 29General Dynamics Electric BoatThames River. Building Navy submarines since 1931.
  • 32Ebenezer Avery House and MuseumFort Griswold. The Avery house at the fort.Visit their website
  • 33Fort Griswold Battlefield State ParkGroton Heights. Earthworks of the 1781 battle.Visit their website

On the National Register

All 13 places in Groton on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Pequot Fort

    Listed 1990 · Pequot Avenue

    The hilltop site of a palisaded Pequot village above the Mystic River, burned in May 1637 by colonial forces and their Mohegan and Narragansett allies, with the loss of hundreds of Pequot lives. Its exact remains are uncertain; a small memorial stands at Pequot Avenue and Clift Street.26

  • Edward Yeomans House

    Built 1713 · Listed 1978 · Brook Street, Noank

    Built the year after Noank was first laid out, it's believed to be the oldest house in Noank. It overlooks Palmer Cove and later gained a gambrel roof and a sixth bay.27

  • Fort Griswold

    Built 1775 to 1778 · Listed 1970 · Bounded by Baker Avenue, Smith Street, Park Avenue, Monument Avenue and the Thames River

    The Revolutionary fort that guarded New London harbor, taken by British troops in the Battle of Groton Heights on September 6, 1781. It's now Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park, with the Groton Monument and the Monument House Museum.10

    Visit their website

  • Jabez Smith House

    Built about 1783 · Listed 1981 · 259 North Road

    The only 18th-century farmhouse left in the Poquonnock Bridge area, once the town's main farming district. The town owns it and opens it as a house museum.28

  • Burnett's Corner Historic District

    Listed 1997 · Along Packer Road, south of Route 184

    A crossroads village and stagecoach stop on the old Post Road, named for sea captain Richard Burnett, who kept the Pequot Hotel. The Greek Revival hotel of about 1842 still stands in the middle of the district.29

  • Groton Bank Historic District

    Listed 1983 · Roughly bounded by the Thames River, Broad, Cottage and Latham Streets

    Fifty acres of Groton Heights built up mostly from 1820 to 1860, when Groton was a busy whaling and shipbuilding center. It includes the Bill Memorial Library, a Richardsonian Romanesque building by Stephen C. Earle.30

  • Mystic River Historic District

    Listed 1979 · U.S. Route 1 and Route 215, West Mystic

    The Groton side of Mystic village, with about 470 sites and structures, among them some 265 nineteenth-century houses. Its nomination praised how completely the old seafaring town survives, houses, stores and factories all still in use.31

  • Noank Historic District

    Listed 1979 · Main Street, Noank

    Almost all of Noank, a village of shipyard workers, with about 260 houses of the mid to late 1800s, many with picturesque woodwork. It includes the Palmer Shipyard site and Morgan Point Lighthouse.23

  • Branford House

    Built 1902 · Listed 1984 · Shennecossett and Eastern Point Roads

    Morton F. Plant's summer mansion at Avery Point, designed by his wife Nellie Capron Plant and named for his hometown. It's now part of UConn Avery Point and holds the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art.32

  • New London Ledge Lighthouse

    Built 1909 · Listed 1990 · Mouth of New London Harbor

    A Second Empire lighthouse built on the southwest ledge at the harbor mouth. It was automated in 1987 and is kept by the New London Maritime Society.33

    Visit their website

  • Avery Point Lighthouse

    Built 1943 · Listed 2002 · 1084 Shennecossett Road

    Officially the last lighthouse built in Connecticut, put up by the Coast Guard on Plant's old estate and first lit in 1944. It was restored and relit in 2006.34

    Visit their website

  • USS Nautilus

    National Historic Landmark

    Built 1954 · Listed 1979 · Naval Submarine Base

    The world's first nuclear-powered submarine, launched at Electric Boat in 1954 and the first to cross under the North Pole, in 1958. She's now a museum ship at the Submarine Force Library and Museum.25

    Visit their website

  • Shepherd of the Sea Chapel

    Listed 2025 · 231 Gungywamp Road

    A chapel on Gungywamp Road, added to the National Register in 2025.35

In their words

“It is a land of breezy ridges and sunny valleys, with stern, precipitous granite ledges facing the Sound and walling in the valleys”

In olde Connecticut, 190636

“Groton Bank, opposite New London, is noted for its beautiful and conspicuous situation.”

History of New London, Connecticut, 185217

“dropped her flannel petticoat, and told them to give it to the British at the cannon's mouth.”

In olde Connecticut, 1906, on Anna Warner Bailey8

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Groton, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. Groton Monument, Wikipedia
  3. The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution (1855), Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Map of Groton, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  6. Chapter sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution; patron saints (1901), on Anna Warner Bailey, Internet Archive
  7. Anna Warner Bailey, Wikipedia
  8. In olde Connecticut (1906), on Mother Bailey, Internet Archive
  9. Chapter sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution; patron saints (1901), on Mother Bailey's last years, Internet Archive
  10. Fort Griswold, Wikipedia
  11. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society (1860), letter on the forts at New London and Groton, Internet Archive
  12. Record of service of Connecticut men in the War of the Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War (1889), the killed at Fort Griswold, Internet Archive
  13. Lambert Latham, Wikipedia
  14. Chapter sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution; patriots' daughters (1904), on the Kinne Meeting House, Internet Archive
  15. A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut (1922), on the monument lottery, Internet Archive
  16. The historical, statistical and industrial review of the state of Connecticut (1883), on Groton, Internet Archive
  17. History of New London, Connecticut (1852), on Groton's churches and Groton Bank, Internet Archive
  18. History of New London County, Connecticut (1882), on Poquonnock Bridge and Center Groton, Internet Archive
  19. Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut (1905), on Elihu Palmer Spicer, Internet Archive
  20. The Connecticut magazine (1905), The Hive of the Averys, Internet Archive
  21. History of New London, Connecticut. From the first survey of the coast in 1612, to 1852 (1852), on the founding of Groton, Internet Archive
  22. History of New London County, Connecticut (1882), on the Mystic River bridge, Internet Archive
  23. Noank Historic District, Wikipedia
  24. Genealogical and biographical record of New London County, Connecticut (1905), on Captain James H. Sistare, Internet Archive
  25. USS Nautilus (SSN-571), Wikipedia
  26. Pequot Fort, Wikipedia
  27. Edward Yeomans House, Wikipedia
  28. Jabez Smith House, Wikipedia
  29. Burnett's Corner, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  30. Groton Bank Historic District, Wikipedia
  31. Mystic River Historic District, Wikipedia
  32. Branford House, Wikipedia
  33. New London Ledge Light, Wikipedia
  34. Avery Point Light, Wikipedia
  35. National Register of Historic Places pending list, February 2025, National Park Service
  36. In olde Connecticut (1906), Groton and Mystic, Internet Archive