EAST HADDAM STORIES

Many resorts started as farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s,. To augment income, farm families started to host their urban relatives and friends, primarily from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and parts of Connecticut... The resorts, boarding houses, and camps of East Haddam catered to different ethnic and religious groups: Christian, Jewish and Bohemian. Ranging in size from sleeping a few dozen up to more than 350, they all offered clean country air and easy fellowship; lots of food and drink; pools, ponds, and rivers; sports and outdoor pastimes; homegrown and professional entertainment... In 1967, East Haddam residents voted to destroy the the Old Moodus Center in pursuit of progress and "free" federal funding. Despite rosy predictions of economic progress, it didn't work out so well. This award-winning series traces how town residents exchanged their historic village for a small, ugly shopping plaza. The village was changed forever.

Primary location: East Haddam United States