page_title: East Lyme, Connecticut
section_title: Niantic
hierarchical_section_title: East Lyme, Connecticut / Geography / Villages / Niantic
caption_attribution_description: Morton House, a long-time hotel in the village of Niantic, town of East Lyme CT
context_page_description: East Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 19,159 at the 2010 census. The villages of Niantic and Flanders are located in the town.
context_section_description: The village of Niantic gets its name from the 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:
  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.
  Sportfishing and marinas 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 km) long walkway that runs parallel to Amtrak shoreline railroad tracks and spans the length of 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. The boardwalk fully re-opened to the public in March 2016.
  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.
caption: The Morton House Hotel in the village of Niantic has been in continuous operation for more than 100 years.
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