Established 1639 -------------------- Stratford Point ------------------------------ Great Neck ----------------------------Lordship Manor
The History of Lordship
Stratford, Connecticut
Lordship, the land at the southern tip of Stratford, jutting into the heart of Long Island Sound. The first inhabitants of Lordship were the Paugussetts who had a large village at Fresh (Frash) Pond, but had encampments at Stratford Point and at Indian Well. Indian Well was a fresh water pond where the old trolley line crossed Duck Neck Creek just north of the rotary near the firehouse. When the first settlers arrived in 1639, they found that Indians were using this area to plant corn, so there was little clearing necessary. Originally Lordship, called Great Neck, was a Common Field worked and owned by settlers who returned home to the safety of the palisade fort at night. Richard Mills was the first to build a farmhouse in Great Neck in the western end near present day Second Avenue. He sold his estate to Joseph Hawley in 1650 and moved. It is in connection with his name that the term Lordship is first found, as applied to a meadow on what is still known as the Lordship farm. It is said in deeds of land - 1650 to 1660 several times, Mills Lordship and the Lordship Meadow. Richard Beach came to Stratford with a family and in 1662, he purchased one of five acres on west point of the Neck, butted south upon the meadow called Mills Lordship. In colonial days, Lordship was a desolate and feared place. There were a few farms and very little trees on the windswept landscape. Breezy Point (north end of Stratford Road) was thought to be haunted and was avoided at night. According to legend, witches and their servants would build bonfires there to lure ships onto the rocks along the beach.
The purpose of this website is to collect and preserve the history of Lordship. Anyone wishing to contribute material, pictures or stories is asked to contact Tom Halverson. All material will be scanned and returned.
Anyone interested in becoming active in the community is asked to contact one of the board members or attend the next meeting. Currect activities are on the club's website at:
