Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States.

[8] The name "Mystic" is derived from the Pequot term "missi-tuk" describing a large river whose waters are driven into waves by tides or wind.

The General Court claimed rule of the area by right of conquest, but the Massachusetts Bay Colony saw matters differently.

John Mason was one of the captains who led the colonists against the Pequots, and he had been granted 500 acres (2 km2) on the eastern banks of the Mystic River.

In 1653, John Gallup, Jr. was given 300 acres (1.2 km2) approximately midway up the east part of the Mystic River.

George Denison, a veteran of Oliver Cromwell's army, was given his own strip of 300 acres (1.2 km2) just south of Gallup's land in 1654.

Thomas Miner had immigrated to Massachusetts with John Winthrop and was granted many land plots, the main one lying on Quiambaug Cove, just east of the Mystic River.

[20] Other families granted land were Reverend Robert Blinman, the Beebe brothers, Thomas Parke, and Connecticut Governor John Hayne.

Many men, however, actually brought their wives and children, which indicated their plans on forming a community in the Mystic River Valley.

[11] By 1675, settlement had grown tremendously in the Mystic River Valley, and infrastructure was beginning to appear as well as an economy.

The Pequot Trail was used as a main highway to get around the Mystic River and played a vital role in the settlers' lives, allowing them to transport livestock, crops, furs, and other equipment to and from their farm lands.

However, those families living on the east side of the Mystic River were unable to make any use of the Pequot Trail.

[16] Colonists began public schools in this area around 1679, and John Fish became the first schoolmaster in Stonington, conducting classes and lessons in his home.

[11] Education was a very important thing to the New England colonists, enabling children and servants to learn literacy skills.

One was called Stonington and was considered to be Lower Mystic, consisting of twelve houses by the early 19th century.

It is home to the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, known for its research department, concern with marine life rehabilitation, and its popular beluga whales.

The business district contains many restaurants on either side of the bascule bridge where U.S. Route 1 crosses the Mystic River.

Short day tours and longer evening cruises are available on the 1908 steamer Sabino departing Mystic Seaport.

The museum's collections and exhibits include over 500 historic watercraft, a major research library, a large gallery of maritime art, a unique diorama displaying the town of Mystic as it was in the 19th century, a working ship restoration shipyard, a planetarium, and a recreation of a 19th-century seafaring village.

Mystic is a census-designated place (CDP) that spans the towns of Groton and Stonington, Connecticut.

Screenwriter Amy Holden Jones spent summers in the area and chose the Mystic Pizza restaurant as the focus of her story about the lives of three young waitresses.

The song "Walcott," from Vampire Weekend's 2008 self-titled debut album, includes Mystic Seaport in a list of prominent New England tourist spots such as Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Hyannis.