Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Mystic (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Mystic Seaport, Mystic River Bascule Bridge, and Charles W. Morgan Ship. Also, be sure to include Sabino in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Mystic (Connecticut).
Table of Contents
Mystic Seaport
Museum in Stonington, Connecticut. Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the crafts and fabric of an entire 19th-century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre site and meticulously restored.[1]
Address: 75 Greenmanville Ave, 06355 Mystic (Mystic)
Mystic River Bascule Bridge
Bascule bridge in Stonington, Connecticut. The Mystic River Bascule Bridge is a bascule bridge spanning the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut in the United States. It carries vehicle and foot traffic directly into the tourist district of town via 33 ft-wide Main Street.[2]
Address: U.S. Route 1 over Mystic River, 06355 Mystic (Mystic)
Charles W. Morgan Ship
Whaling ship. Charles W. Morgan is an American whaling ship built in 1841 that was active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ships of this type were used to harvest the blubber of whales for whale oil which was commonly used in lamps. Charles W. Morgan has served as a museum ship since the 1940s and is now an exhibit at the Mystic Seaport museum in Mystic, Connecticut. She is the world's oldest surviving merchant vessel and the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet. The Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[3]
Sabino
Sabino is a small wooden, coal-fired steamboat built in 1908 and located at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. It is one of only two surviving members of the American mosquito fleet, and it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[4]
Address: 75 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic
Mystic Museum of Art
Museum in Groton, Connecticut. Mystic Museum of Art is a museum of American art at 9 Water Street in Mystic, Connecticut.
The Mystic Art Association, an organization of artists who painted in the seacoast town, was founded by Charles Harold Davis in 1913. It opened the Mystic Arts Center in 1931 as an exhibition space and museum.
Mystic Arts Center was renamed Mystic Museum of Art in 2016. Its permanent collection features works by Davis, Robert Brackman, Yngve Edward Soderberg, J. Alden Weir, Charles Herbert Woodbury, and many others.
Official website[5]
Address: 9 Water St, 06355 Mystic (Mystic)
Pequot Fort
The Pequot Fort was a fortified Native American village in what is now the Groton side of Mystic, Connecticut. Located atop a ridge overlooking the Mystic River, it was a palisaded settlement of the Pequot tribe until its destruction by Puritan and Mohegan forces in the 1637 Mystic massacre during the Pequot War. The exact location of its archaeological remains is not certain, but it is commemorated by a small memorial at Pequot Avenue and Clift Street. The site previously included a statue of Major John Mason, who led the forces that destroyed the fort; it was removed in 1995 after protests by Pequot tribal members. The archaeological site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[6]
Mystic River Railroad Bridge
Swing bridge in Groton, Connecticut. The Mystic River Railroad Bridge is a railroad bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor over the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut, between the towns of Groton and Stonington.
There have been three bridges at this location. The first bridge was a single-tracked, wooden drawbridge in 1819, which was replaced with a steel swing bridge in 1875.
The current bridge was built in 1984, and is a truss-style swing bridge, providing 13 feet (4.0 m) of vertical clearance when closed.
The two tracks running over the bridge are owned by Amtrak, are part of its Northeast Corridor route, and are used to operate its Northeast Regional and Acela Express services. There is a proposal, however, to extend Shore Line East Commuter Rail Service from its current terminus in New London to Mystic, which would require crossing this bridge.
The bridge is the easternmost drawbridge on the Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor in Connecticut.[7]
Mystic Aquarium
Aquarium in Stonington, Connecticut. Mystic Aquarium is a marine aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. It is one of only two U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions, and it has the only beluga whales in New England. Special exhibits include a ray and shark touch pool, an African penguin exhibit, a jelly gallery, and the "Jurassic Giants" dinosaur exhibit. The aquarium is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. It is a subsidiary of the Sea Research Foundation, Inc.[8]
Address: 55 Coogan Blvd, Mystic
Mystic Seaport Light
Lighthouse. Mystic Seaport Light is a lighthouse at the south end of Mystic Seaport, 2 miles upriver from Noank, Connecticut. The light is a two-story white shingled structured topped with a glass-enclosed lantern and is a replica of the 1901 Brant Point Light. The Mystic Seaport Light was designed by William F. Herman Jr. and constructed in 1966. It was formally dedicated on August 31, 1967, but remained unlit due to active navigational regulations imposed by the United States Coast Guard. The Mystic Seaport light is now an active light, but not an official aid to navigation.
The structure was used as an example of a lighthouse for Mystic Seaport visitors, but was not part of an exhibit until a 2008 renovation. The interior of the lighthouse was equipped with five LCD televisions to display two short educational films that highlight the history and architectural diversity of American lighthouses.[9]
Pequotsepos Manor
Museum. Pequotsepos Manor, known formally as Denison Homestead, is a historic house museum at 120 Pequotsepos Road in the Stonington part of Mystic, Connecticut. The house was built in 1717, and stands on land that has been in continuous ownership of the Denison family since 1654. It is now owned and operated by the family-run Denison Society, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 15, 1979.[10]
Address: 109 Pequotsepos Rd, 06355-3045 Mystic
L. A. Dunton
Vessel. L. A. Dunton is a National Historic Landmark fishing schooner and museum exhibit located at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. Built in 1921, she is one of three remaining vessels afloat of this type, which was once the most common sail-powered fishing vessel sailing from New England ports. In service in New England waters until the 1930s and Newfoundland into the 1950s. After a brief period as a cargo ship, she was acquired by the museum and restored to her original condition.[11]