Connecticut River Ferries

This is a the tale of America's oldest continually running ferry service and incldues stories of the people who passed through its doors.

America's oldest continuously operating ferry service began running between Rocky Hill and Glastonbury in 1655. More than one hundred have operated on the river since the seventeenth century. The stories of the captains, crews and passengers define the history and personality of the region. Learn how Captain Ham Sandwich got his name. Discover the bond between Katharine Hepburn and a real ferry queen, Cathey LaBonte. Authors Wick Griswold and Stephen Jones detail the history of these charming anachronisms and why they are still afloat today.

Author: Wick Griswold, Stephen Jones
Publisher: History Press
Published: 04/09/2018
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781467138079

About the Author
Griswold, Wick: - Stephen Jones is Professor Emeritus in the Maritime Studies Program, which he co-founded for the University of Connecticut-Avery Point. He served his military obligation in the Coast Guard aboard an off-shore lighthouse during the Mid-Atlantic Storm of the Century and later at a lifeboat station. His books on coastal culture include Drifting, Harbor of Refuge, Back Waters, Short Voyages, Working Thin Waters and the Flat Hammock Press editions of Ellery Thompson's Draggerman's Haul and The Arthur Henry/Theodore Dreiser: An Island Cabin. He has been executive producer of numerous maritime documentaries, including The Real McCoy, winner of five Emmys, and Ferryboats of the Connecticut River. He and his son, Captain Geoffrey Jones, run two maritime facilities on the Mystic River. He has served on the Town of Groton Shellfish Commission since 1968. His first excursion on a Connecticut river ferry was with his parents just prior to the outbreak of World War II.



Wick Griswold is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Hartford. His signature course is the Sociology of the Connecticut River. His books include A History of the Connecticut River, Griswold Point: History from the Mouth of the Connecticut River and Pirates and Privateers of Connecticut, all published by The History Press. He is an associate producer of the documentary Ferryboats of the Connecticut River. He also hosts Connecticut River Drift on i-CRV Radio in Ivoryton, Connecticut. He is currently developing an educational project with the Connecticut River Museum and the Connecticut River Academy focusing on four hundred years of immigration into the Connecticut River Valley. He is commodore of the Connecticut River Drifting Society and lives where the river debouches into Long Island Sound.