The Discovery of the Dutch Fort on Indian Neck

Please join us as local historian and author Jim Powers tells the story of how the location of a Dutch trading post and fort was discovered right here in Branford.

Can oral history sometimes be true?

In Branford, local legends have always claimed that the Dutch were present well before English colonists arrived in 1638. It's a story that has been passed down from generation to generation for 350 years but dismissed as simply a local myth by historians. Where is the proof they have always asked? Where are the Dutch and English records that wrote about it? Where is the physical evidence that could prove they were really here?

In 1998 and 1999, when the remnants of a Dutch Fort were unearthed on Indian Neck, everything changed. Proof was found and the history of Branford and Connecticut changed forever. As for oral history? Sometimes it is worth a second look.

Registration is required to attend this IN PERSON event

Host or Publisher James Blackstone Memorial Library