Haley Farm State Park 3.51

Haley Farm State Park is a public recreation area that preserves Colonial-era farmland as open space in the town of Groton, Connecticut. The site of the state park once formed part of the lands granted to Governor John Winthrop and later became a dairy farm. The park's are connected to the adjacent Bluff Point State Park by way of a pedestrian bridge over railroad tracks. Park activities are restricted to bicycling and walking. The park is managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.HistoryLand containing the acreage for Haley Farm State Park was part of a larger parcel granted to John Winthrop, Jr., in 1649. Known as "John Winthrop the Younger," Winthrop was governor of the Saybrook Colony and is often recognized as "Connecticut's first governor." The land was later split up, with the piece containing Haley Farm designated as Fort Hill Farm. The farm was purchased by Starr Chester in 1789 and passed to Noyes Barber in 1833. The land was split again in 1852 with the farm being sold to Henry B. Lewis. Four hundred acres were sold to Caleb Haley in 1869 for the price of $12,000. Haley farmed the land, built stone walls throughout the property and raced horses around "Racetrack Pond." The land passed to his son, Samuel Haley, after his death in 1924. Samuel Haley continued to operate the farm until his death in 1947, when it was passed to his daughter Juliet Haley. The farm produced cream and milk that was shipped to Noank, West Mystic and Mystic. In 1953, the farm was sold out of the Haley family to A. C. White who abandoned the farm to develop a gully called Mumford Cove and placed the 250-acre parcel of land containing Haley Farm for sale. In 1960, the homestead burned down and the other buildings eventually were demolished in 1973 after being documented for possible future reconstruction.