Today is Saturday, July 5, 2025 
Our exciting NEW promotion with Shore Line East offers SLE ticket holders a 10% discount on Water Taxi season passes. Just show your ticket at the boat. This starts June 1st.
Our new mobile app
We have a NEW mobile app which makes getting around the Park fun, easy, and informative. The platform is called izi.travel. Download it from your app store and enter Thames River Heritage Park. Please let us know what you think. We want to make the visitor experience as seamless as possible.
Our new website is live
If you’re reading this then we hope you notice our NEW website. Easy navigation, lots of information about Park sites, the Water Taxi, and for those who purchase water taxi tickets and season passes, fabulous NEW Ride & Save promotions. Check back often as we just started this collaboration with local merchants and will be adding promotions throughout the season.
Our NEW social media campaign is robust and filled with daily tidbits of local color. Please share.
Counting down to launch
We are in countdown mode for launching our second Water Taxi season at the Park. Getting ready for the season has been a master class in coordination and collaboration.
Starting with the boats. As anyone who owns a boat knows (or smarter yet, anyone who has a friend with a boat) they require a lot of maintenance and attention. With two boats operating this year that’s twice the care. That said, with our first trial run of the season behind us hosting CT Innovations last week, we are primed to launch Friday, the 26th at 10 a.m.
The boats have NEW awnings and NEW sound systems to make the ride enjoyable and informative. We are collaborating with local experts and our partner heritage sites to host tours on the Water Taxis, some of which are listed in our NEW Events calendar with more to come. The first will be hosted by Deborah Donovan, Treasurer of New London Landmarks and past President of the New London County Historical Society. “Four Centuries in 90 Minutes” will be leaving from City Pier on Thursday, June 8th at 6:30 p.m. It’s $30/pp and sure to sell out. Get tour details and tickets here.
There will be weekly sunset and daytime cruises, too. Grab some friends, pack a snack, your favorite beverage and get out on the water in an historic naval vessel.
Historic Groton Bank
WATER TAXI PICK UP SPOT
The Groton Bank is a historic village on the east bank of the Thames River. Today the neighborhood is comprised of a few hundred houses, three churches, a library, two museums, a Revolutionary War fort and business structures dating primarily from Colonial times to a century ago. Groton Bank and Fort Griswold are adjacent Historic Districts listed on the US Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.
In 1655 the ferry operator Cary Latham became the first permanent English settler on the east bank of the Thames River when it was part of the Pequot Colony, which later became the city of New London. After Groton became a separate town in 1705, the east bank of the river became known as Groton Bank and grew to become a major village in the town. In centuries following, the Groton Bank transformed into an international leader in the shipbuilding industry and was the site of the only major Revolutionary War battle in Connecticut. During the War of 1812, Fort Griswold served as the key defender of the Thames Harbor. It was also home to well-known captains of the whaling era and the residence of many prominent citizens including a member of Congress. In 1881 a portion of the Groton Bank took on the name “Groton Heights” in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Revolutionary War Battle fought here on September 6, 1781.
