Lendle

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. Whether you are preparing for a road trip or just out to look at your own town in a new way, a downloadable walking tour from walkthetown.com is ready to explore when you are.

Each walking tour describes historical and architectural landmarks and provides pictures to help out when those pesky street addresses are missing. Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

The English first settled on the western side of the mouth of the Connecticut River but it did not take long for the settlers to wander to the east bank. The town of Lyme was set off from Saybrook on February 13, 1665. The first settler, Matthew Griswold, took the name from the port in England from which he had sailed, Lyme Regis in Dorsetshire. Or so it is assumed.

Old Lyme has always been shaped by the sea. Among the early industries were fishing, shipbuilding and the manufacture of salt, of which Old Lyme was the state’s only supplier. At one time, it was said, every house in Old Lyme was occupied by a sea captain.

Those industries are all gone from Old Lyme, which was separated from its fellow Lymes in 1855. The sea captains are all gone, too. In their place are artists and tourists. The artists first came when Miss Florence Griswold opened her boarding house doors to a group of artists in 1899 and founded the Lyme Art Colony. The tourists come every summer when the year-round population of the town doubles.

Our walking tour will travel down Lyme Street and come back again, all under leafy circumstances; if we have to see a town twice we could do no better than the classic New England town of Old Lyme…