A scene out of Currier and Ives, the town’s main street is lined with Georgian and Federal-style homes and white picket fences stretching down to the harbor. Essex Village is one of three villages that make up the town of Essex, the others being Centerbrook and Ivoryton, former headquarters of Comstock, Cheney & Co., one of the country’s preeminent 19th-century manufacturers of ivory piano keys, billiard balls, combs, knitting needles, and toothpicks. Essex is a full-service destination, with romantic lodging and upscale dining, along with a great museum and historic steam train for the young and the young-at-heart.

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