Arts & Culture
Old Lyme Celebrates America 250
Old Lyme's America 250 Countdown celebrates America's semiquincentennial birthday,
the town's own history, and those who have lived in Old Lyme, both past and present.
We will be sharing here upcoming festivities, lectures, and walking tours
related to the Town's America 250 celebration.
We will also be celebrating the heritage of Old Lyme's townspeople today, and hope all will participate.
To learn more about and perhaps join Old Lyme's America 250 Committee, see the Town webpage.
Enjoy our feature stories written by local historians below.
260 years ago on January 2, 1766, the Lyme Resolves was issued. The Resolves was essentially a resolution to defy Britain’s Stamp Act, by which colonists were to pay a very high tax (through purchase of mandatory tax stamps) for all public documents and papers – everything from contracts to playing cards.
As British colonists started to rise up against the crown and consider their own nation, local [Old] Lyme residents played formidable roles. Read the latest article on Reverend Stephen Johnson, “Lyme’s Radical Cleric” and considered to be the writer behind the Lyme Resolves. The writings of this First Congregational Church minister were reprinted in newspapers throughout the colonies, informing and inspiring the uprising that would become the birth of our nation.
Reverend Johnson is buried at the Duck River Cemetery.
Did you know in 1776 Old Lyme was part of a larger town simply known as 'Lyme?' During the time of the Revolutionary War, Lyme included Old Lyme, Salem, and East Lyme, in addition to what we know today as the Town of Lyme. Read more about how these four "ecclesiastical societies" broke off into separate towns in the 1800s in "Evolution of a Place Name."
Ezra Stiles, Map of Lyme Parishes. 1768. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
In honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day 2025, we celebrate the contributions of the Nehantic People, who inhabited this land long before its colonization. Their descendants not only fought in the Revolutionary War, but also continue to contribute to our nation today. Read more...
June 17, 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the Battle at Bunker Hill. Read about how Lyme's Samuel Holden Parson's led the men of Lyme (including several Native American men) to fight the British.
Old Lyme joined the Nation in "Two Lights for Tomorrow." Commemorating the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's famous ride, many residents, business owners, and nonprofits displayed two lights in their window the evening of Friday, April 18. Read more about Lyme's call to action during that fateful week 250 years ago.
Learn more about our local trailblazers and history
Reverend Stephen Johnson: Lyme's Radical Cleric
“The shot heard ‘round the world”, fired at Lexington in 1775, is typically how we mark the beginning of the American Revolution. But wars don’t arise out of thin air—especially wars undertaken against the most powerful imperial army in the world. Before war comes ideology, and few writers were more important in developing the rhetoric of revolution than Lyme’s own Reverend Stephen Johnson.
Before the Lymes: The Land of the Nehantics
Walking down Lyme Street on a beautiful autumn day, you might consider that this very lane was once a footpath for the Nehantic People—not just hundreds, but thousands of years ago. Archaeologists have established evidence of their early settlement across the area, including at the rock shelters in the Town’s Ames Family Open Space.
The King’s Attorney and the Minister: Old Lyme’s Heroes at the Battle of Bunker Hill
​The men of Lyme had barely returned home from Lexington before they had to march right back to Boston to face the British at Bunker Hill. On April 26, 1775, just days after the opening skirmish of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut General Assembly raised six regiments for defense of New England.
Lymes' Militia Men Answer the Call to Arms: April 1775
TO ARMS! TO ARMS! THE WAR HAS BEGUN!
So was the cry brought to our Post Road in 1775 by Minuteman Israel Bissell as he rode from Watertown, Massachusetts to New York City, informing patriots along his route that British had fired upon American militia men at Lexington, and battle was engaged. The Revolution had begun.
Welcome to Old Lyme
Welcome to Old Lyme, a small, historic town on the Connecticut coastline. We are known for our art galleries and beaches, and have so much more. Whether you are thinking about relocating your home or business here, or just looking to visit for the afternoon, welcome! We are glad to have you.