Groton

Groton may refer to :

Places

In England

In the United States of America

Boarding schools in the United States

Groton, Connecticut

Groton /ˈɡrɒtən/ is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 40,115 at the 2010 census.

Groton is the home of the Electric Boat Corporation, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is located in Groton, and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer is also a major employer. The Avery Point section of Groton is home to a regional campus of the University of Connecticut.

History

Groton was established in 1705, when it separated from New London, Connecticut.

Groton is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat Division, which has been supplying the Navy with submersibles since 1899. Electric Boat employs thousands in the Groton/New London area, but since the end of the Cold War, it has laid off many workers.

The Old Mystic Baptist Church, founded in Groton, was the first Baptist church in Connecticut.

The beginning

A hundred years before the town was established, the Nehantic people were settled in the area between the Thames and Pawcatuck rivers. The Nehantics were brutally attacked by another band of natives, the Pequots. These invaders burned their wigwams, destroyed their cornfields and food supplies, and a few possessions were stolen. Many of the Nehantic warriors were tomahawked. The survivors fled to Misquamicut in what is now Rhode Island.

Groton, Massachusetts

Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,873 at the 2012 town census. It is home to two prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1792. The historic town was a battlefield in King Philip's War and Queen Anne's War, experienced incidents of insurrection during Shays's Rebellion, and was the birthplace of William Prescott, who commanded the colonial forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

History

The area surrounding modern day Groton has, for thousands of years, been the territory of various cultures of indigenous peoples. They settled along the rivers for fishing and transportation. Historic tribes were Algonquian-speaking Nipmuc and Nashaway Indians.

The Anglo-American Groton started with the trading post of John Tinker, who conducted business there with the Nashaway at the confluence of Nod Brook and the Nashua River. The Nashaway called the area Petapawag, meaning "swampy land." Other pioneers followed the Algonquian trails from Massachusetts Bay, as Tinker had. They found the region productive for fishing and farming.