Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Army Corps of Engineers cut a canal between what is now Canal Road and Spriteview Avenue in order to provide a faster and safer route for Westport’s onion farmers to transport their goods to the harbor in Norwalk. Thus, Saugatuck Island - then known as “Greater Marsh Shores at Saugatuck, Connecticut” - was formed. Decades later, the canal was closed up at its southern end and a bridge was installed at the northern end in order to provide access to the “Island”… and residential development began.
Starting in the mid-1920s the area was included within the larger “Saugatuck Shores at Saugatuck, Connecticut” designation, an area that encompasses not only Saugatuck Island but virtually all the property extending out from Harbor Road east of Duck Pond Road. Still generally thought of as part of Saugatuck Shores, Saugatuck Island - the property east of Canal Road - has been a separate homeowners community association (corporation) since the 1950s and a special taxing district since 1984. In 2008, the corporation was dissolved leaving the taxing district as the sole governance structure and owner of common assets. The taxing district, which was established to facilitate fund collection for the maintenance of roadways and other common properties, is managed by a nine member Board of Directors in accordance with Connecticut Statutes and an updated Ordinance adopted in September 2020 (available to residents in the “Residents” section).
The Island’s population of about 400 has been fairly steady since the 1980s, having grown from just a few families circa 1950; but its diversity has been steady, running the gamut from singles to young families to empty nesters to retirees. Over the years residents have maintained a high degree of social interaction with Island-wide July fourth events - like jamborees and parades - and winter holiday get-togethers having been staples for many decades. These activities have been supplemented over the years by organized beach events, imaginative flotillas, Texas barbecues, and parent and child beach camp-outs…even dinner shows with resident-performed song and dance performances. Saugatuck Island car stickers, license plates and tee shirts still surface on occasion.
Residents have also banded together to engage in just causes. One of the more notable of these occurred in the mid-1960s when United Illuminating proposed building a nuclear power plant on Cockenoe Island…just a few hundred yards from Saugatuck Island. Due to much opposition from Saugatuck Island residents, and the community in general, the proposal was defeated in 1967 and Cockenoe Island is now a recreational area for all to enjoy. The area between Saugatuck and Cockenoe Islands is currently one of the finest clamming beds in Connecticut.
In addition to its hundred plus residences, Saugatuck Island is home to two private clubs. Cedar Point Yacht Club is one of the East Coast’s most recognized yacht racing clubs with over 500 members and seven classes of racing fleets. Established by a group of Westport area yachtsmen in 1887, and named after a point of land at the entrance to the Saugatuck River, it maintains active racing and instructional programs as well as being a social venue for its members. Incorporated in 1934, the Club built and moved to its current facility on the northeast section of Saugatuck Island in 1966. A second club, The Saugatuck Shores Club, was established in 1946 by a group of area residents as a beach and tennis facility; it has been in its current location at the southeast corner of the Island (“Seymour Point”) since 1950.
On the Saugatuck Island (see map, inside back cover) there are ten “roadways” - including unimproved rights-of-way - on the Island. These comprise three east-west roads (Harbor Road, Cross Way and Cockenoe Drive), six north-south roads (Spriteview Avenue, Island Way, Marine Avenue, Sea Spray Road, Sandpiper Road and Bluff Point), and one right-of-way that has both an east-west and a north-south component (Cavanagh Avenue).
Until 1965 - before Cedar Point Yacht Club moved to Saugatuck Island – the area north of Cross Way and east of a line extending north from Sandpiper Road did not exist. Construction of the Yacht Club was made possible by taking landfill from what is now the boat basin north of Cross Way and moving it to create the current northeast arm centered on Bluff Point. Bluff Point and the eastern portion of Cross Way, starting at the midpoint of Sandpiper Road, are owned by Cedar Point Yacht Club. The remainder of the “roadways” are the property of the Saugatuck Island Special Taxing District.
