A small river town on the Connecticut, once called Pattaconk, where the Hadlyme ferry has crossed since 1769 and the mill streams once turned out auger bits, wooden inkstands and witch hazel.

Middlesex County · Record checked October 8, 2026

3,749Population2020 census1
1836Became a townfrom the northern quarter of Saybrook1
1769The ferryJonathan Warner's crossing to Hadlyme2
1733First librarythe first in Middlesex County3
5National Registerplaces, all still standing4

Then and now

The same town 145 years apart. Click either map to look closer.

Bird's-eye view map of Chester, Connecticut from 1881 by O.H. Bailey, restored by KNOWOL

1881

The bird's-eye view

By O.H. Bailey

Chester drawn as if from the sky toward the end of the 1800s, with Russell Jennings Augers and Bits, the Chester Button Company, Connecticut Valley Hardware, Pond's Extract Distilleries, Deep River Lumber, the Chester Hotel and Sullivan's Store.5

See the 1881 printMore about this map
Map of Chester, Connecticut in 2026, with the village green, the ferry landing, Cedar Lake and 25 numbered landmarks

2026

Chester today

By KNOWOL

Shaded hills from Cedar Lake down to the Connecticut River, every street, the village green and the ferry landing, and a guide of 25 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.6

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Chester

Bits, inkstands and witch hazel

Chester's streams once kept a whole row of small factories busy. Rev. Russell Jennings, a Baptist pastor, took over his late brother's auger bit business in 1851, patented an improvement in 1855, and by 1884 his bits were ordered from Europe and made in five factories, three of them in Chester. The Connecticut Valley Hardware Company near the depot made nothing but augers and bits. At the Silliman factory, glass-lined wooden inkstands sold all over the country, and during the Civil War orders for soldiers' pocket inkstands kept it running night and day. Up the Pattaconk River, Pond's distillery boiled down witch hazel that grew all around town.7891011

Warner's Ferry

In 1769 Jonathan Warner was granted the right to run a ferry across the Connecticut River here. It started out as a raft pushed with long poles, and during the Revolution it often carried supplies across the river. Warner was a wealthy farmer who also invested in merchant shipping, and in 1798 he built a fine Federal house on Kings Highway, keeping the receipts for most of its materials. The town took over the ferry in 1877 and the state in 1917. The Selden III still makes the crossing in about five minutes, from April through November.212

Pattaconk, the round hill

Before it was Chester it was Pattaconk. An 1884 county history says the name meant sweating place or round hill, a pine-covered rise where a medicine man brought the sick into a heated enclosure until their fever broke. The same book says treasure hunters dug pits on top of that hill, spending days and weeks looking for Captain Kidd's gold. English settlers came in 1692, and the parish gathered its own church, the Third Church of Saybrook, in 1742. Its meetinghouse of 1793 still stands on the green as the Old Town Hall. Chester finally became its own town in 1836.1311415

Through the years

24 moments from 1662 to today.

  1. 1662A 30-acre Wangunk reservation called Pattaquonk is set aside here.1
  2. 1692English settlement of the area begins.1
  3. 1733The first library in Middlesex County is started in Chester.3
  4. 1742The Third Church of Saybrook is formed, the church of what will become Chester.14
  5. 1755Shipbuilding begins near the mouth of Chester Cove.16
  6. 1769Jonathan Warner is granted the right to run a ferry across the Connecticut River.2
  7. 1772Rev. Robert Silliman is installed as Chester's minister.17
  8. 1780Deborah Spencer marries John Church in Chester and rides sixty miles on horseback to a new home in Winchester.18
  9. 1793The meetinghouse that's now the Old Town Hall is built.15
  10. 1798Jonathan Warner builds his house on Kings Highway to his own design.12
  11. 1810Chester gets its post office.3
  12. 1836Chester becomes a town, set off from the northern quarter of Saybrook.1
  13. 1836About this year a stone factory goes up at the outlet of Cedar Lake to make wagon springs. It never makes one.11
  14. 1844N. C. Perry starts the business that becomes Chester's oldest continuous factory.19
  15. 1847The town buys the old meetinghouse for $300 and makes it the town hall.15
  16. 1851Rev. Russell Jennings, a Baptist pastor, takes over his late brother's auger bit business.7
  17. 1871The Connecticut Valley Hardware Company is incorporated to make augers and auger bits near the depot.8
  18. 1874The woolen mill at the outlet of Cedar Lake mostly burns.11
  19. 1877The town of Chester takes over the ferry, and it becomes the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry.2
  20. 1881O.H. Bailey publishes his bird's-eye view of Chester.5
  21. 1885The Russell Jennings Manufacturing Company is organized.20
  22. 1908Eila Pierre builds Villa Bella Vista above the river.21
  23. 1917The state takes over running the ferry.2
  24. 1959It Happened to Jane, with Doris Day and Jack Lemmon, is filmed in Chester.1

Places to see

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

  • 1Historic FerryThe ferry landing. Crossing to Hadlyme since 1769.
  • 3Villa Bella VistaOld Depot Road. Eila Pierre's Italian-style villa of 1908.
  • 8Cockaponset State ForestNorth and west. Connecticut's second largest state forest.Visit their website
  • 13Chester Historical Society Museum at the MillChester village. Exhibits at an old mill site.Visit their website
  • 14Village GreenChester village. The traditional heart of town.
  • 15Old Town HallVillage Green. The meetinghouse of 1793.
  • 16Terris TheatreChester village. Goodspeed Musicals' second stage.Visit their website
  • 20Charles Daniels HouseLiberty Street. Greek Revival house of about 1830.
  • 21Jonathan Warner HouseKings Highway. The ferryman's Federal house of 1798.
  • 24Constance Baker Motley PreserveWest of town. Land trust preserve with a trail.Visit their website

On the National Register

All 5 places in Chester on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.4

  • Old Town Hall

    Built 1793 · Listed 1972 · On the Green between Liberty Street and Goose Hill Road

    Built as the meetinghouse of the local Congregational parish, it was sold to the new town in 1847 for $300. It was remodeled as a theater in 1876 and held town meetings until 1960.15

  • Jonathan Warner House

    Built 1798 · Listed 1978 · 47 Kings Highway

    Jonathan Warner, who ran the ferry, designed this Federal house himself and kept the receipts for most of its materials. Its Ionic pillars and Palladian window made it a showpiece in a well-known book on early Connecticut houses.12

  • Dr. Ambrose Pratt House

    Built 1820 · Listed 1972 · Pratt Street

    A high-style Federal house with a large oval window over the door, built by the master carver Samuel Silliman. It belonged to the Pratt family for many years and was moved to the end of Pratt Street in 1966.22

  • Charles Daniels House

    Built about 1830 · Listed 1988 · 43 Liberty Street

    A temple-front Greek Revival house built for Charles Daniels, who owned a gimlet factory nearby. Facing demolition after years empty, it was moved about 300 feet in 1978, keeping its old granite and chimney brick.23

  • Villa Bella Vista

    Built 1908 · Listed 2000 · 7 Old Depot Road

    Eila Pierre drew the plans herself, modeled on the farmhouses of northern Italy, and Italian masons who also worked on Gillette Castle built it on a hill above the river.21

In their words

“A beautiful promontory, covered with a thick growth of pines.”

History of Middlesex County, 1884, on the round hill called Pattaconk13

“The reputation of Chester as a centre for the manufacture of bits and augers.”

The historical, statistical and industrial review of the state of Connecticut, 18848

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Chester, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, Wikipedia
  3. Historic towns of the Connecticut River valley (1906), Internet Archive
  4. National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  5. Bird's-eye view of Chester, Connecticut from 1881, restored by KNOWOL
  6. Map of Chester, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  7. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on Jennings' auger bits, Internet Archive
  8. The historical, statistical and industrial review of the state of Connecticut (1884), on the Connecticut Valley Hardware Company, Internet Archive
  9. Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1903), on the Silliman inkstand factory, Internet Archive
  10. The Write Stuff: Made in Chester, Chester Historical Society
  11. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the mills of Chester, Internet Archive
  12. Jonathan Warner House, Wikipedia
  13. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on Pattaconk, Internet Archive
  14. Early Connecticut marriages as found on ancient church records prior to 1800 (1896), Internet Archive
  15. Old Town Hall (Chester, Connecticut), Wikipedia
  16. A statistical account of the county of Middlesex, in Connecticut (1819), on shipbuilding, Internet Archive
  17. A statistical account of the county of Middlesex, in Connecticut (1819), on Chester's ministers, Internet Archive
  18. Biographical review: Litchfield County, Connecticut (1896), Internet Archive
  19. The historical, statistical and industrial review of the state of Connecticut (1884), on N. C. Perry, Internet Archive
  20. Commemorative biographical record of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1903), on Wilbur A. Brothwell, Internet Archive
  21. Villa Bella Vista, Wikipedia
  22. Dr. Ambrose Pratt House, Wikipedia
  23. Charles Daniels House, Wikipedia