Bluff Point Coastal Reserve

Bluff Point State Park
Connecticut State Park
Bluff Point view of Fisher's / Long Island Sound with Fisher's Island (left) and the New London Ledge Lighthouse (right) visible on the horizon.
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
County	New London
Town	Groton
Elevation	108 ft (33 m)
Coordinates	41°19′30″N 72°01′43″W / 41.32500°N 72.02861°W / 41.32500; -72.02861Coordinates: 41°19′30″N 72°01′43″W / 41.32500°N 72.02861°W / 41.32500; -72.02861
Area	806 acres (326 ha)
Established	1963
Management	Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Location in Connecticut
Website: Bluff Point State Park

Bluff Point State Park is a state-managed, public recreation area and nature preserve on Long Island Sound in the town of Groton, Connecticut. The state park encompasses a barrier beach, steep cliffs, forested sections, and tidal wetlands on an undeveloped peninsula located between the Poquonnock River and Mumford Cove. Of the property's 806 acres (326 ha), 778 acres (315 ha) are designated as a coastal reserve. Recreational opportunities include hiking, mountain biking, boating, saltwater fishing, and shell fishing.

The Pequot used Bluff Point as a source of seafood before the arrival of European colonists. In 1649, the Town of New London granted John Winthrop the Younger a plot of land that became the plantation called Winthrop's Neck. It included present day Bluff Point State Park, Haley Farm State Park, Poquonnock Bridge, Mumford Cove, and Groton Long Point. The property was subsequently divided into Great Farm, also known as Bluff Point, and the Fort Hill Farm.

The farm building called Winthrop House was constructed on Bluff Point circa 1712 by Edward Yeomans on land leased from the Winthrop family. When it burned down in 1962, it left only a chimney standing that would later be used to reconstruct the Ebenezer Avery House's chimney after its relocation to Fort Griswold. The foundations of the farmhouse are still visible. The farm's crops included blackberry bushes and apple trees which continue to thrive. In the early 20th century, Bluff Point was part of an area known as Poquonnock Farm that was leased for potato farming by John Abbott Ackley.

In 1892, Walter Denison opened a summer resort on Bushy Point. As interest in camping rose in the 1910s, Bluff Point became a popular destination by the 1920s. Tents and shacks grew into a small community of summer cottages by the 1930s. The owner of the property decided to stop subleasing the property in June 1938, with the termination in October 1 and the removal of the structures by November 1. Leary writes, "[b]efore a legal protest could be mounted, nature adjudicated the issue. On September 21, 1938, a massive hurricane came ashore at high tide. Except for the old Winthrop place, it destroyed nearly every building on the site." Some 106 homes were lost.