Editing East Lyme, Connecticut (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Rocky Neck SP Beach Niantic CT.jpg|left|thumb|500x500px|View of the [[Rocky Neck State Park]] Jetty, beach and the Giants Neck area shoreline in the Niantic section of East Lyme, Connecticut.]]East Lyme is located in southern New London County, west of [[Waterford, Connecticut|Waterford]] and [[Montville, Connecticut|Montville]], east of [[Lyme, Connecticut|Lyme]] and [[Old Lyme, Connecticut|Old Lyme]], and south of [[Salem, Connecticut|Salem]]. [[Long Island Sound]] is to the south. According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|42.0|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|34.0|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|7.9|sqmi|km2}}, or 19%, is water.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nianticmainstreet.org/about-east-lyme/ | title=About East Lyme }}</ref>

===Villages===
The town consists primarily of two villages, Flanders and [[Niantic, Connecticut|Niantic]]. It is common for the town of East Lyme to be erroneously called "Niantic", due to this side of town being the "beach" side which is popular with tourists and visitors in the summer months. Niantic's population doubles in the summer months for the beach season, and it has a much higher density than the more sparsely populated Flanders side of town, which is known for its apple orchards, the town's high school, and the forest.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nianticmainstreet.org/about-east-lyme/ | title=About East Lyme }}</ref>

====Niantic====
{{Main|Niantic, Connecticut}}
[[Image:morton house.JPG|thumb|300px|The Morton House Hotel in the village of Niantic has been in continuous operation for more than 100 years.]]
The village of Niantic gets its name from the [[Niantic people|Niantic]] or Nehantic people, whose ranging grounds once extended from Wecapaug Brook, in what is now [[Rhode Island]], to the [[Connecticut River]]. Shortly before the first settlers arrived, the [[Pequots]] had invaded Nehantic territory and annexed about half of the land claimed by the tribe. According to local historian Olive Tubbs Chendali:
<blockquote>It was the construction of the railroad in 1851 that lured people to the shoreline which up to this time had been known - not as Niantic - but as "The Bank". Long before this time, however, as evidenced by ''The Diary of Joshua Hempstead - 1711 - 1758'' it was known as "Nahantick" "Nyantick" or "Nehantic", the home territory of the Nehantic Indians.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chendali|first1=Olive Tubbs|title=Stories of East Lyme|publisher=East Lyme Public Library|location=East Lyme, CT|pages=13–14}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Sportfishing]] and [[marina]]s dominate the village's industry along with summer tourism and restaurant trade. Strong regional businesses include seafood restaurants and hotels/motels serving the town's beaches and the casinos at [[Foxwoods]] and [[Mohegan Sun]]. [[Rocky Neck State Park]] features camping, swimming and picnic areas along with numerous marinas and sportfishing companies.

The Niantic Bay Boardwalk is a one-mile (1.6&nbsp;km) long walkway that runs parallel to [[Amtrak]]’s shoreline railroad tracks and spans Niantic Bay from the [[Niantic River]] inlet to Hole-in-the-Wall municipal beach. It first opened to the public in 2005, but was closed from about 2011 due to a combination of Amtrak building a new railroad bridge across the Niantic River, which required a re-positioning of the approach tracks, and damage caused by [[Hurricane Irene]] in October 2011.<ref>{{cite web| title = Boardwalk closed in East Lyme| publisher = WTNH - News 8| access-date = March 27, 2012| url = http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/weather/severe_weather/boardwalk-closed-in-east-lyme| archive-date = October 7, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111007143938/http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/weather/severe_weather/boardwalk-closed-in-east-lyme| url-status = dead}}</ref> The boardwalk fully re-opened to the public in March 2016.<ref>{{cite web| title = Niantic Bay Boardwalk restored | date = March 24, 2016| publisher = WTNH - News 8|access-date = April 24, 2016| url = http://wtnh.com/2016/03/24/niantic-bay-boardwalk-restored/}}</ref>

The Children's Museum of Southeastern Connecticut is located in East Lyme's original public library on Main Street. The museum is aimed primarily at children ages infant to ten years old. The current public library is located on Society Road, away from Niantic.

The village of Niantic includes the beach communities of Attawan Beach, Black Point, Crescent Beach, Giants Neck Beach, Giants Neck Heights, Oak Grove Beach, Old Black Point, Pine Grove, and Saunder's Point.

[[Niantic station|East Lyme and Niantic station]] was an [[Amtrak]] station that closed in 1981. There are currently proposals to rebuild the station to accommodate [[Shore Line East]] trains.

====Flanders====
The village of Flanders, originally a farming area along the Old Post Road, gets its name from the development of woolen mills similar to that in [[Flanders]], [[Belgium]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chendali|first1=Olive Tubbs|title=East Lyme: Our Town and How It Grew|date=1989|publisher=Mystic Publications|location=Mystic, CT|page=142}}</ref> The heart of the village is located at Flanders Four Corners at the intersection of Chesterfield Road ([[Connecticut Route 161|Route 161]]) and [[Boston Post Road]] ([[U.S. Route 1 in Connecticut|Route 1]]). This area is the site of many small stores and businesses, as well as [[East Lyme High School]], Flanders Elementary School, and the Board of Education.

Flanders was the original center of East Lyme society with dozens of 18th century homes, shops and public inns situated along the Boston Post Road until the early 1800s. It lost its pre-eminence as Niantic began to flourish, first with the growth of commercial fishing and then with the construction of the [[Shore Line Railway (Connecticut)|Shore Line Railway]].<ref>{{cite web|title=About East Lyme|url=http://www.eastlymehistoricalsociety.org/index_files/Page367.htm|website=East Lyme Historical Society|access-date=April 24, 2016|archive-date=June 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627231202/http://www.eastlymehistoricalsociety.org/index_files/Page367.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many of the original Flanders homes have been lost as a result of the construction of Interstate 95 in the 1950s and subsequent commercial construction at the Four Corners area. For example, the old Caulkins Tavern stood at the site of the current CVS and was a well-traveled and documented stopping place in the 18th century from none other than [[Sarah Kemble Knight]] in her diary, as well as General [[George Washington]], who stopped here with thousands of troops in 1776.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chendali|first1=Olive Tubbs|title=East Lyme: Our Town and How It Grew|date=1989|publisher=Mystic Publications|location=Mystic, CT|page=67}}</ref> Some homes remain closer to the Waterford line at the site of the old Beckwith Shipyard at the head of the Niantic River.

====Other minor communities====
Golden Spur is a community located at the head of the Niantic River, which earned it its other name, "Head of the River". In the eighteenth century it was the site of the Beckwith shipyard. By the turn of the 20th century it was the site of an [[amusement park]] accessible by trolley run by the East Lyme Street Railway. The park operated until 1924.<ref>{{cite web| title = Local Landmarks| publisher = East Lyme Historical Society| access-date = March 27, 2012| url = http://eastlymehistoricalsociety.org/index_files/Page1095.htm#goldenspur| archive-date = March 11, 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311105725/http://www.eastlymehistoricalsociety.org/index_files/Page1095.htm#goldenspur| url-status = dead}}</ref>

===Topography===
The [[topography]] of East Lyme consists of rolling hills and lush valleys rounded by glaciers during the last Ice Age. Hills rise to elevations of {{convert|250|to|350|ft}} above sea level in the eastern and central areas of the town.  The highest point in town is an unnamed hill with an elevation of {{convert|500|ft}} located in Nehantic State Forest in the northwest corner of the town.<ref>U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic map series, Hamburg quadrangle 2021</ref> East Lyme is especially scenic in the summer when the trees are in bloom. On its east and southern sides, the town abuts tidewater. The tidal [[Niantic River]] on the east feeds Niantic Bay, an arm of [[Long Island Sound]], which forms the southern edge of the town.