Mystic

History

Before the 17th century, the Pequot people lived in this portion of southeastern Connecticut. They were in control of a considerable amount of territory, extending toward the Pawcatuck River to the east and the Connecticut River to the west. To the northwest, the Five Nations of the Iroquois dominated the land linked by the Great Lakes and the Hudson River, allowing trading to occur between the Iroquois and the Dutch. The Pequots were settled just distant enough to be secure from any danger that the Iroquois posed. The Pequot War profoundly affected the Mystic area between 1636 and 1638. In May 1637, captains John Underhill and John Mason led a mission through Narragansett land, along with their allies the Narragansetts and Mohegans, and struck the Pequot Indian settlement in Mystic in the event which came to be known as the Mystic massacre. On September 21, 1638, the colonists signed the Treaty of Hartford, officially ending the Pequot War. Pequot control of the Mystic area ended after the Pequot War, and English settlements increased. By the 1640s, Connecticut Colony began to grant land to the Pequot War veterans. John Winthrop the Younger was among those to receive property, much of which was in southeastern Connecticut. Other early settlers in the Mystic area included Robert Burrows and George Denison, who held land in the Mystic River Valley. Settlement grew slowly. The Connecticut government and Massachusetts Bay government began to quarrel over boundaries, thus causing some conflicting claims concerning governmental authority between the Mystic River and the Pawcatuck River. In the 1640s and 1650s, "Connecticut" referred to settlements located along the Connecticut River, as well as its claims in other parts of the region. Massachusetts Bay, however,…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 10.6%, is water. The village is on the east and west bank of the estuary of the Mystic River. Mason's Island (Pequot language: Chippachaug) fills the south end of the estuary. Most of the bedrock of Mystic is "gneissic, crystalline terrane extending from eastern Massachusetts through western Rhode Island and across southeastern Connecticut north of Long Island Sound," according to geologist Richard Goldsmith.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  17,997
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  15,613
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,660
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  11,990
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  11,872
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  11,587
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  11,412
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  11,133

Largest nearby schools

• Robert E. Fitch High School
  High · Groton · 1,005 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• Groton Middle School
  Middle · Groton · 907 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Ledyard High School
  High · Ledyard · 743 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Waterford High School
  High · Waterford · 735 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Ella T. Grasso Technical High School
  High · Groton · 654 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Gallup Hill School
  Elementary · Ledyard · 618 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Stonington High School
  High · Pawcatuck · 585 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• Clark Lane Middle School
  Middle · Waterford · 549 students · 13.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2020-11-08
  10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.66 — 2014-08-14
  6 km SW of Deep River Center, Connecticut
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts