A shoreline town on Long Island Sound, once the Pochaug parish of Saybrook, where shipyards lined two small rivers, shad nets filled the bay, and David Bushnell grew up to build the Turtle.

Middlesex County · Record checked October 12, 2026

6,769Population2020 census1
1840Became a towna parish of Saybrook since 17241
100,000Shadthe average yearly catch by 18842
3IslandsSalt, Menunketesuck and Duck, all uninhabited1
2National Registerplaces, all still standing3

Westbrook on the map

Click the map to look closer.

Map of Westbrook, Connecticut in 2026, from the town center on the Post Road to the beaches and islands of the Sound, with 31 numbered landmarks

2026

Westbrook today

By KNOWOL

Shaded land from the woods in the north down to the marshes and Duck Island on the Sound, every street from the Boston Post Road to Pond Meadow Road, and a guide of 31 numbered landmarks with the National Register sites marked.4

See the 2026 printMore about this map

The story of Westbrook

Ships on the Pochaug

For more than a century Westbrook built ships. White oak and chestnut came down from the northern woods, and brigs, schooners and sloops for the West India and coasting trade went up along the Pochaug River, at a yard on the Menunketesuck, and even beside the roads and on the beach. In good years half a dozen sat on the stocks at once. The carpenters earned, an 1884 history says, one hard dollar a day and grog. In the War of 1812 privateers were built at Ball's yard, and an unfinished vessel at Hayden's yard was sunk on purpose so British cruisers couldn't burn it. In 1814 the people of the parish asked the governor for a guard, writing that the enemy could land and take them out of bed in fifteen minutes.567

The quiet inventor of the Turtle

David Bushnell was born in 1740 on a farm in the part of Saybrook that's now Westbrook. After his father died he sold the farm, studied with the parish minister, Rev. John Devotion, and entered Yale at 31. There he proved that gunpowder would explode under water, and back home he and his brother Ezra built the Turtle, an oak submarine launched in 1776. An 1819 county history called him a man of unassuming manners who kept all his plans to himself, and said his machines caused the British more terror and alarm than real injury. In 1906 a writer reported that what was left of the Turtle sat in a barn on the Bushnell farm in Westbrook, though parts had been lost or stolen.8491011

The place where the river divides

Westbrook's old name, Pochoug, meant the place where a river divides, an 1884 history says, for the spot where the Pochaug and Menunketesuck Rivers meet. Broken and half finished arrowheads turned up in great numbers at Round Hill, likely made there from slate and quartz off the beach. In 1724 the 225 people of the west parish, in 38 families, won the right to a society of their own. For sixty years they'd gone all the way to Old Saybrook to worship, on foot, on horseback and later in rough carts. In 1810 they asked for a new name, since very few could spell or pronounce Poochague correctly. They became Westbrook, and a town of its own in 1840.121314151

Through the years

24 moments from 1648 to today.

  1. 1648Saybrook divides its outlying lands, and the Oyster River Quarter takes in nearly all of what is now Westbrook.16
  2. 1680The shore road is laid out, with the first bridge, built of timber, over the Menunketesuck River.17
  3. Before 1700An iron works at Pond Meadow smelts ore from Mine Swamp into everything from nails to anchors.18
  4. 1724The 225 people of the west parish, in 38 families, are set off from Saybrook as their own society.13
  5. 1726The Westbrook church is organized with 14 members, and Rev. William Worthington is ordained its first minister.19
  6. 1727The parish votes to set up its first public school.20
  7. 1740David Bushnell is born in the part of Saybrook that is now Westbrook.8
  8. 1748Four neighbors build a sawmill on the Falls River and share it, three days a year each.21
  9. 1757Rev. John Devotion is ordained. He'll serve the parish for 45 years.22
  10. 1776Bushnell's Turtle, an oak submarine, is launched.4
  11. 1802Rev. Devotion drops dead near the church door on training day.22
  12. 1810The parish is renamed Westbrook, since few could spell or pronounce Poochague.15
  13. 1814Residents ask the governor for a guard against British landings from the Sound.7
  14. 1840Westbrook is incorporated as a town.1
  15. 1849Pound fishing for shad begins, and the catch grows to about 100,000 fish a year.2
  16. 1871Theodore Post and partners start the Salt Island Oil Company, pressing menhaden for oil.4
  17. 1872William I. Lewis settles at Grove Beach and goes on to build it into a summer resort.23
  18. 1875About this year Russell Doane builds a sawmill on the Falls River in the north of town.24
  19. 1881The Westbrook Agricultural Society holds its first fair, with 901 exhibits.25
  20. 1884About 100 summer cottages line the shore, and summer visitors nearly double the town.26
  21. 1904A library is built in the triangular green where Route 1 meets Essex Road.27
  22. 1932The Colonial Revival building that's now Town Hall goes up as a school.27
  23. 1987The old Doane's sawmill, where nutcrackers and lobster forks were made, is taken down.24
  24. 2017The Westbrook Town Center Historic District is listed on the National Register.27

Places to see

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

  • 1Salt IslandOff the town beaches. Home of the 1871 fish oil works.
  • 6Lay-Pritchett HouseStevenstown Road. Saltbox begun about 1737.
  • 9Westbrook Town GreenTown center. Civic heart since the early 1700s.
  • 13Westbrook Historical Society BuildingTown center. The town's history society.
  • 16Salt Meadow Unit, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife RefugeNear the shore. The refuge's oldest part and headquarters.Visit their website
  • 22Westbrook Town HallBoston Post Road. Built as a school in 1932.
  • 24Westbrook Town BeachThe shore. Public beach on the Sound.
  • 25Westbrook Public LibraryTown center. Near the old 1904 library.Visit their website
  • 30First Congregational Church of WestbrookTown center. The parish church, gathered in 1726.
  • 31Doane's Sawmill/Deep River Manufacturing CompanyHorse Hill and Winthrop Roads. Mill site, now a wildlife area.

On the National Register

All 2 places in Westbrook on the National Register of Historic Places that still stand today, oldest first, and why each one matters.3

  • Lay-Pritchett House

    Built about 1737 · Listed 1978 · Stevenstown Road (Route 145)

    A five-bay saltbox long said to be the oldest house in the Patchogue part of Westbrook, built in stages by the Lay family. Most of its first-floor rooms keep their hand-hewn beams, board wainscoting, doors and hardware.28

  • Westbrook Town Center Historic District

    Listed 2017 · Boston Post Road at Essex Road, Old Clinton Road and South Main Street

    The center of civic life since the early 1700s, with 195 historic buildings on 178 acres from the mid-1700s to the mid-1900s. It takes in the 1904 library on the triangular green and the 1932 town hall, first built as a school.27

In their words

“No more substantial or seaworthy craft were ever built than these homely vessels, built of the native timber, by carpenters whose trade was a profession”

History of Middlesex County, 1884, on Westbrook's shipyards5

“Its seamen were among the most efficient, and its commanders the most successful.”

History of Middlesex County, 18845

“David Bushnell, the inventor, was born in Westbrook, will make that town notable for all time.”

Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley, 190629

Nearby towns

Sources

  1. Westbrook, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  2. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the shad fisheries, Internet Archive
  3. National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Connecticut, Wikipedia
  4. Map of Westbrook, Connecticut in 2026, KNOWOL (USGS elevation, Census Bureau roads)
  5. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on shipbuilding, Internet Archive
  6. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the shipyards in the War of 1812, Internet Archive
  7. Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society (1860), the Westbrook petition of 1814, Internet Archive
  8. David Bushnell, Wikipedia
  9. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on David Bushnell, Internet Archive
  10. A statistical account of the county of Middlesex, in Connecticut (1819), on David Bushnell, Internet Archive
  11. Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley (1906), on the remains of the Turtle, Internet Archive
  12. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the name Pochoug and Round Hill, Internet Archive
  13. Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley (1906), on the parish in 1724, Internet Archive
  14. Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley (1906), on the long trip to church, Internet Archive
  15. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the 1810 change of name, Internet Archive
  16. Historic towns of the Connecticut River valley (1906), on the Oyster River Quarter, Internet Archive
  17. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the early roads, Internet Archive
  18. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the iron works, Internet Archive
  19. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the ecclesiastical society, Internet Archive
  20. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the first schools, Internet Archive
  21. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the first mills, Internet Archive
  22. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on Rev. John Devotion, Internet Archive
  23. Illustrated popular biography of Connecticut (1891), on William I. Lewis of Grove Beach, Internet Archive
  24. Doane's Sawmill/Deep River Manufacturing Company, Wikipedia
  25. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on the Westbrook Agricultural Society, Internet Archive
  26. History of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1884), on Westbrook's summer cottages, Internet Archive
  27. Westbrook Town Center Historic District, Wikipedia
  28. Lay-Pritchett House, Wikipedia
  29. Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley (1906), on David Bushnell, Internet Archive