Fascinating Local History, Free Of Charge

Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park sits high on a hill with the best view in town.  For those who have not had the pleasure of exploring the grounds, climbing the monument or visiting the museum free of charge, you have a few more weeks to fit in a visit before Labor Day.   

The state park is the site where Benedict Arnold and his British Forces massacred Groton soldiers on September 6, 1781. The grounds have been preserved, but a monument has been added, and a museum makes this park into an interesting destination.

The cornerstone of the Groton monument was laid in 1826, and took four years to finish. The monument, a tall granite Egyptian Revival obelisk, was constructed entirely of local granite. The 22-foot square base was initiated by the Groton Heights Association as a monument to fallen soldiers at Fort Griswold.

Around the same time, the museum, otherwise known as the monument house, was originally built as a residence for the caretaker of the monument.  Completed in 1830, the caretaker moved in. 

In 1893, Abby Day Slocum lived on Monument Street and formed the Anna Warner Bailey chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, or DAR. Originally, the group met monthly at the Bill Memorial Library next door and when the monument caretaker moved to a nearby house in 1894, Abby Day Slocum asked the state if the monument house could be used by the chapter as a resting place for visitors.  An agreement was made and in 1894, the museum was initiated.

“It’s really one of the earliest museums in Connecticut,” says Johnathan Lincoln, manager of the park and an employee for 33 years.

The DAR gathered monthly and raised money to expand the facility in 1906. The expansion, called the Memorial Annex, was built as a memorial to soldiers of the American Spanish War.

Even though the state owned the building, The Anna Warner Bailey chapter operated the museum on a budget of $300 a year.  Restrooms and a kitchen were added in 1911, and in 1954, the property became a state park.  The first park employee emerged in 1974 and the park opened with regular hours. 

Collections including Colonel Ledyard’s sword, whaling artifacts and personal belongings of Anna Warner Bailey, were gathered by the Anna Warner Bailey chapter and turned over to the state in 1979.  The chapter still meets regularly. The September meeting is always on the 6thto honor the anniversary of the Battle of Groton Heights. 

The collections are maintained by Connecticut State Parks Division with the help of Friends of Fort Griswold. Now, 185 years later, guests can still see the upper walls lined with coats of arms, the original Connecticut state flag and Groton’s first postal desk.

The park is well visited, and on average day this summer saw 60-70 people a day.

“We still get people from all over the world.  We’re half way between Boston and New York, so we get tourists going both ways,”  Lincoln says. “When this first opened, there was no (Interstate) 95.  We had a ferry and the route from Boston to New York was Thames Street to Poquonnock Road, so people came right by here.”

Although Lincoln and his staff are winding up for the year, they look forward to one last big event on the grounds Sept. 3.  The Friends of Fort Griswold are throwing the Fort Griswold Day celebration from 10 a.m. to dusk.  The annual celebration promises to offer history, drama and music – an ideal close to summer.