page_title: Shippan Point
section_title: Resort
hierarchical_section_title: Shippan Point / History / Resort
caption_attribution_description: English: Wreck of Ennis' Patent Swimming Baths, Shippan Point, Stamford, Connecticut.
context_page_description: Shippan Point is the southernmost neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut, United States, located on a peninsula in Long Island Sound. Street names such as Ocean Drive West and Lighthouse Way reflect the neighborhood's shoreline location. It is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, with about 1100 homes.
  Many of the community's large homes overlook the water and have private beaches. Bordering Shippan Point to the northeast is the Shippan neighborhood of Stamford, and farther east the East Side neighborhood. To the west of Shippan Point, separated from it by a canal, is the South End neighborhood, which is currently in planning phases for a major redevelopment.
  Running down the middle of the peninsula, Shippan Avenue is the main road of the community. Several of the cross streets end in private beaches owned by neighborhood associations.
  Some local historians say "Shippan" means "the shore where the sea begins." but others say the meaning of the Indian name is lost.
context_section_description: The late nineteenth century and early twentieth century were the heyday of Shippan as a summer resort, both for Stamford residents and others who owned or rented summer cottages or stayed at the Ocean House Hotel. "When Michael McDevitt bought it, he renamed it 'Shippan House'." By 1890, he had added a pavilion, bath houses, a casino, and a carousel from Asbury Park, New Jersey. It was situated at the spot where later the Woodway Beach Club was built. The Hotel was renovated in 1911 by Leonard Barsaghi."
  In 1887 John Ennis bought land at the southwest end of the point and built a bathing pavilion over the water, where people could swim beneath a roof. He also put in ball fields, and a shed for 150 horses, which was too small to meet demand.
  With Stamford Harbor on the west-side of the point, and Westcott Cove to the east, boats were plentiful in the summer months. The Rev. Henry Codman Potter's yacht Pearl was one of the more impressive sights at Stamford Harbor. A new steamer ship, The Shippan, was built in 1866. Some of these vessels ferried passengers to the newly opened Shippan resorts of Ennis and McDeavitt. The racetrack at the northeast end of the peninsula brought even more visitors, so in 1892 the Stamford Street Railway began trolley service to Shippan.
  The Stamford Yacht Club was formed in 1890, and the following year, William A. Lottimer was named its first Commodore. The 4 acres (16,000 m²) on the western shore were developed by N.W. Barrett of Bridgeport. The club boasted the pleasures of yachting, bathing, tennis, croquet, concerts and receptions. A fire destroyed the original clubhouse in 1913, but within a year a new structure had taken its place.
caption: The wreck of Ennis' bathing pavilion, after an October 1916 storm.
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