William Morgan: The joy of a ferry ride across the Connecticut River
Looking toward the Chester-Hadlyme ferry as it crosses the Connecticut River.
— All photos are by William Morgan except the last one.
Is there anyone who does not love a ferry? One thinks of the large ferryboats across Long Island Sound or those heading to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Yet, the 65-foot Selden III has been making the five-minute crossing of the Connecticut River between Chester and Hadlyme, a village in Lyme, for three quarters of a century. It is now operated Apri1-Nov. 30.
The one-way fare for the nine-car ferry is $5 on weekdays and $6 on weekends. It is a delightful trip and a cheap, if supremely low-key, thrill. The hamlet of Hadlyme consists of a handful of handsome Federal and Greek revival houses. The attractive and historic town of Chester, on the western shore, has beautiful marshes and fields, a testament to the Connecticut River’s meandering history.
In Hadlyme,Conn.
There has been a ferry at this spot since 1769, and it was especially important during the American Revolution when the British controlled the coastal highway (what is now U.S. Route 1). I first discovered the ferry through the 1961 movie Parrish, which was set in the tobacco country farther up the valley. Starring Claudette Colbert and Karl Malden, the film opens with the eponymous protagonist Parrish, played by Troy Donahue, riding on the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry. Curious, I tracked the ferry down, and used it occasionally when I went to visit my dissertation adviser, who had retired to Chester.
Setting out on the Connecticut on a recent fall day.
Perhaps people who use the ferry every day are immune to its pleasures. But on a warm October afternoon, almost everyone left their cars to experience being on the water. A dozen years ago the State of Connecticut, seeking budget cuts, decided to close the ferry. There was a such an uproar that the state kept the service running. It is a welcome change of pace in a frantic world.
William Morgan is a Providence-based architecture writer who has published several books with New England themes, including A Simpler Way of Life: Old Farmhouses of New York and New England and The Cape Cod Cottage.
