Chapman Falls in Devil's Hopyard State Park, East Haddam, Connecticut. The falls, part of Eight Mile River, drop 60 feet over Scotland Schist stone formation. In 2002 a millstone was found at the base of the falls. The falls once powered a mill owned by Abner Beebee. In 1774 the Sons of Liberty destroyed the mill because Beebee was a Loyalist to King George. They rolled the millstone down the embankment and tarred and feathered Beebee and his brother Asa, an Anglican minister.
How did the park get its odd name? There are many legends, more fiction than fact. One says that a landowner named Dibble grew hops for beer and Dibble's Hopyard became Devil's Hopyard. Others refer to the many potholes in the park, some many feet in circumference and depth. We now know that these are formed by stone washed down by the river and trapped in eddies where they are spun and form depressions. But early settlers thought that the Devil passed by the falls, got his tail wet and became so angry that he burned holes in the stone with his hooves as he bounded away. Another claims that Satan has been seen playing a fiddle at the top of the falls as witches stirred a broth in the potholes.