Spotlight on Southport, CT

The Village of Southport, Connecticut is located along Long Island Sound between the Mill River and Sasco Brook, which is on the Westport town line.
There are approximately 2,200 residents in Southport, and 1,000 households.   Officially named the Borough of Southport in 1831, it was disbanded as a borough  by 1854. Southport remains rich in agricultural and american history, as some of southwestern Connecticut's first families had homesteads here.

With a land area of less than three square miles, Southport has its own railroad station and zip code (06890). Southport is bordered within the town of Fairfield, which was settled in 1639. The downtown area is  listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and boasts an area where buildings from three centuries are protected with strict historic regulations. The historic district boundaries are the railroad on the north; the Mill River and Southport Harbor on the south; Church Street;  Old South Road on the west, and Rose Hill Road on the east.

RECREATION & THE ARTS

Wakeman Boys & Girls Club; Southport Racquet Club

Sasco Beach - 9.9 acres, this nicely tucked away beach has free access, although is for residents only.  Sasco Beach is located  just to the south of Southport Harbor and the Country Club of Fairfield on Long Island Sound.

Southport Beach is approximately 2. 5 acres in size- a small beach that includes bathroom facilities and a concession stand.

The Country Club of Fairfield on Sasco Hill Road. (Members Only) Founded in 1914,  the country club includes an 18-hole- par 70 golf course. Officially opened in 1921, it consists of 143 bucolic acres on Sasco Hill Road reminiscent of an Irish countryside, and borne of  of onion fields that sloped down to the marsh. The course rating is 71.6 and it has a slope rating of 133, and  features 6,358 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 70. Other amenities include a club house and private beach, swimming pool, tennis courts.

Pequot Yacht Club on 669 Harbor Road - open only to its 250 members. (There is a  municipal boatyard)  and anyone can picnic on Perry's Green, or fish for bluefish.

The Pequot Library opened in 1894 and is  well known throughout New England for its old and rare book collections, its Audubon elephant folios, its near perfect auditorium, and its antique book sale which features upwards of 120,000 volumes on sale every summer. The library is quite a landmark, and  an outstanding example of Romanesque architecture. Built in 1887, this beautiful pink granite building has a Tiffany window and was designed by H.H. Richardson. (The Library is also on the National Register in the Southport Historic District)

A LITTLE HISTORY:

The Pequot War:  "The Great Swamp Fight" occurred  here in 1637 and it is widely understood that it was quite a violent scene. The Pequot Indians fled westward  to Southport to take refuge with about 200 Sasqua Indians who lived here after their village in Mystic (Missituck), Connecticut was  set ablaze by  the English, led by Captain John Mason and Roger Ludlow. In the massacre, hundreds of women, children and older men perished by the English setting their village ablaze. Nearly three hundred Pequot and Sasqua Indians perished in the battle in Southport that followed..

.....AND THE GLOBE ONION

Southport was once referred to as the "Onion Capital of America". The Southport White Globe Onion, ( also called the "Silver Ball" and "White Rocca)  is an "heirloom vegetable" known throughout the country still  for its firm and pungent flavor, which is great for cooking It was developed here in the late 1800's, and was a major export until the onion blight.  You can still buy seeds for this famous onion variety

For future reference, see this page under our Fairfield Section in the left hand side bar, and visit our new Southport Facebook Page, too!

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