Old Lyme, CT — Shoreline Town Guide | Connecticut Off Market

Old Lyme is where American Impressionism took root, and the reason is still visible — the light over the marshes at the river mouth is genuinely different from the light a few miles west.

The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, from the corner of Ferry Road.

What Old Lyme is known for

The Lyme Art Colony, the center of American Impressionism in the early twentieth century.
The Florence Griswold Museum, in the boarding house where the colony's painters stayed.
Wide salt marshes at the mouth of the Connecticut River, including Great Island.
Sound View beach and the Black Hall River.

Quick facts

Sits on: The east bank of the Connecticut River, on Long Island Sound
Known for: The Lyme Art Colony, Florence Griswold Museum, salt marsh
Rail: Nearest stations are Old Saybrook and New London
Feel: Quiet, wooded, artistic; the least built-up of the six

Common questions about Old Lyme

What is Old Lyme, Connecticut known for?

Old Lyme is known as the home of the Lyme Art Colony, the center of American Impressionism in the early twentieth century, and for the Florence Griswold Museum. It is also known for the extensive salt marshes at the mouth of the Connecticut River.

Why did painters settle in Old Lyme?

Painters were drawn by the quality of light over the salt marshes at the river mouth. From about 1900 the boarding house of Florence Griswold became the center of the colony.

Is Old Lyme quieter than the other shoreline towns?

Generally yes. Old Lyme is more wooded and less commercially developed than the towns west of the river, with much of its shoreline given over to marsh and conservation land.

Keep going