ESSEX: A NEW FRONTIER
Before the arrival of the first settlers in 1647, Potapaug (as Essex was called by its Algonquian
name back then) was likely covered with dense hardwood forests such as hickory, cedar,
red maple and Atlantic white pine. These forests developed over thousands of years as the
climate slowly warmed following the Ice Age.
By comparison, Europe was heavily settled by the seventeenth century. Land that was not
developed was used for agriculture, leaving little space available for forests and wild game.
People in England looking for opportunity heard reports from North America of plentiful
land, rich forests, abundant wildlife and rivers teeming with fish, enticing some of them to
migrate.
What came to be known as New England was not a pristine wilderness when the first
Europeans arrived. Native Americans had lived along the coasts and rivers for thousands of
years. By the thirteenth century, they acquired the maize culture and were using fertile fields
to grow the three sisters--corn, beans and squash. Unlike the Europeans who had livestock
and used manure for fertilizer, the Natives instead burned fields and meadows to enrich the
soil. There were also a number of well-worn pathways, many of which later became cart paths
and roads. A large majority of the Native Americans perished shortly after contact with the
Europeans, felled by diseases previously unseen in the New World.
Dutch fur traders were the first Europeans to trade in the lower Connecticut River. They
were later supplanted by the English, who built homes and began developing the area’s rich
natural resources.
In the lower Connecticut River, the settlers found tightly-packed hills and favorable annual
rainfall. Like the Falls River, the Connecticut River’s fast flowing tributaries could be used to
harness water power. Near the mouth of Falls River, there are several significant drops in the
riverbed, which meant churning water and rapids. Not long after the first European settlers
arrived, these areas were dammed to harness the energy of the flowing water.
Water power close to navigable waterways, access to fertile lands, plentiful game in forests
and an abundant variety of timber presented many opportunities. Additional settlement and
growth would soon follow.
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