Category Archives: Connecticut

Around the grounds of Gillette Castle

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I’ve written about Gillette Castle before. https://aroundustyroads.com/2011/03/05/gillette-castle-and-state-park/

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But up until now I’ve never had time to visit the actual grounds. I’ve always viewed the castle from the river.

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I rolled into Haddam about 1pm and my River Cruise wasn’t until 4 pm so with time on my hand I followed the signs to Gillette Castle and State park.. The roads and entrance are well-marked making it easy to find.

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The drive in is quite pretty even this early in the spring. There’s a little pond with a picturesque stone bridge just before you reach the main parking lot. You can pull in here and park or continue on to the visitor center and Castle itself.

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I was still here too early in the season. Nothing was open except the grounds so you could walk around the castle, enjoy the views and follow the trails but the Welcome Center was closed as was the interior of the Castle and the snack bar.

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That’s ok with me.

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There will be plenty more to explore when I get back this way again.

Mount St. John School

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This building is Mount St. John in Deep River Connecticut. I have never seen the building up close but each time I take a trip down the river I see that dome gleaming in the sunlight. The building fascinated me but I heard different things about it. On the river cruise on the Becky Thatcher the guide pointed it out and said it was a convent. But on the Riverquest cruise that guide said it was a home for troubled boys.

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On my most recent trip down the river the captain mentioned that he thought the school had been sold and was being closed down this summer.

So here is the history as I have been able to dig it up.

Mount Saint John was founded as St. John’s Industrial School in 1904 in Hartford. This was a residential school for boys in need of care. The need rapidly outgrew the space in Hartford so in 1907 the cornerstone was laid for the beautiful building we see from the river today.

In 1908 the staff and residents moved from Hartford to the new property in Deep River. The  Xaverian Brothers, staffed the school from its opening until 1919. While much good work was done, the future of the institution as an Industrial School was very uncertain. At the same time, an orphanage for boys in Hartford, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, was in dire need of more accommodations. It was agreed that the orphanage would move to the Deep River site. At that time the Sisters of St. Joseph administered the home and school until 1958.

Then in 1958, a large addition to the original building opened  to house new dormitories, classrooms, and a gymnasium/auditorium. The programs for the boys admitted are tailored for individual needs and have changed over the years as the types of problems presented has changed with society.

For more information on the history of Mount St John including photos I refer you to a great blog entry I ran across http://mountsaintjohnsschoolalumni.blogspot.com/

Although finding history on this building was easy, finding current news was not so I don’t know the current status of the building or it’s school. I can only hope that with its history of good works that the news our good captain shared is wrong and the legacy will continue.

Challenge #3

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Let’s try this one more time. I’m on my last week of work and they are keeping me busy but I still have a couple more landmarks. This time I’d like to hear from you more. Do you recognize the picture? Do you know where it is? Have you ever been there? If so what did you think of it?

Now I think this one may be a little bit harder. I have written about it in the past so you may recognize it from my posts but I’ll be honest, until I stumbled on it, I’d never heard of it. So I am curious if you know where/what it is.

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The Becky Thatcher

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Remember Becky Thatcher from Tom Sawyer? Well our riverboat was the Becky Thatcher and it was quite roomy. After the safety orientation to show us the life jackets we cast off and headed upstream. The river was beautiful.

We had a young man acting as a commentator to point out the sights like eagles nests, a ferry, the Goodspeed Opera house. It was his first time so he was nervously reading the script. If they let him do it again I’m sure he will get better.

The views of the Gillette Castle were extraordinary from the boat. The mansion is an amazing sight  anyway any time of the year but with the green foliage and bright blue sky it was truly magnificent.

Even with a full complement of guests the ride was relaxing. I find being on the water like that is very soothing.

When we reached the opera house and the East Haddam swing bridge we did a big , slow, sweeping turn that gave us plenty of time to take in the views of East Haddam.

We passed marinas and private docks and even a monestary! What a beautiful day for a riverboat ride!

Traveling back down the river we spotted the train on its last run of the day.

So that was how we would get back to the station.

The train stopped at Deep River Landing just as we pulled in. While I waited for my turn to leave the boat I watched two large birds swoop over the island across from the boat. Osprey! I was thrilled to actually see them fish, swooping down to brush the surface of the river and then climb back up with their fish. At first I thought they were eagles but closer scrutiny proved them to be osprey. They were too far away for photos but I did try..just a couple of spots came out.

Back at the station the office recommended Bill’s Seafood if I wanted to have a nice moderately priced dinner before I returned home. They gave me the address and directions and it wasn’t long before I spotted it. The weather was still wonderful so I took a seat at a picnic style table on the outdoor deck. I was glad for the umbrella, not for the sun but as protection from the birds. Sea Gulls were flying everywhere. Marshland spread out from the  deck and I spotted white ibis, great blue herons and more Osprey. There were 2 osprey nests and they were both occupied. I watched the adults hunting and returning to the nest with their catch to feed the babies while I enjoyed a lovely meal of fish and chips.

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Children were feeding the ducks and gulls bits of their lunches and the birds were clearly enjoying the attention.  This would be a wonderful place to come back to with a big telephoto lens. But even without the camera, it was a wonderful way to end the day.