Marine Patrol
The Branford Police Department has an extremely active
marine division staffed by certified Marine Officers. Along the shores
of Branford's coastline lie the Thimble Islands. The Thimble group
consists of 365 islands, 32 of them inhabited, the largest are
Horse Island, Governor's Island and Money Island and the smallest is
Dogfish Island, three-quarter of an acre. The pirate, Captain Kidd
is reputed to have stashed booty on treasure Island.
The islands, discovered by European explorer Adrian Block
in 1614, are glacial deposits of Stony Creek granite, which was
quarried at the turn of the century to make sturdy foundations for the
Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, Grant's tomb and the Lincoln
Memorial.
Another legend regarding a local place name has it
that between 1637 and 1640 a battle of the Pequot War was fought on Horse
Island. After the battle it's said that the head of a native American, slain
in combat, was placed by Uncas in the fork of a tree where the skull
remained for many years, giving the point of land its present name, Indian
Head, the northern most point of that island.
Over 100 families live on the Thimble Islands and the
department provides police services to them via the Marine Division.
